Guildford Borough Council has announced changes to the way residents present their recycling in a bid to achieve its self-imposed target of 70 per cent recycling by 2015.
The council intends to combine the collection of dry recyclables in a single wheeled bin – a move it hopes will save nearly £500,000 a year. Guildford Borough Council has also said the smaller number of collection vehicles required for a co-mingled system could potentially avoid capital costs of around £1.6 million.
The new service is expected to cost £3.9 million to implement, with the council expecting the switch to have been completed by October 2013. The decision to amend the service was made by the council’s Executive last Thursday (4 October).
Nick Sutcliffe, Lead Councillor for Environmental Services, said: "A total of 20,000 tonnes of household waste a year goes to landfill sites from Guildford residents – enough to fill more than six Olympic-sized swimming pools. We need to do more to reduce what we throw away and the introduction of wheeled bins will make it easier for residents to recycle by removing the need for sorting.
"Wheeled bins will also mean items are less likely to blow away or be scattered by wildlife and they also hold more. Eighty-three per cent of residents use the current multiple box scheme for recycling and 62 per cent use the food waste scheme. By improving and simplifying the service we hope to encourage more to take part."
The decision to switch to a co-mingled collection comes at a time of heated debate surrounding its legality. EU guidelines and claimants of the ongoing judicial review state that all councils need to be operating separate collections of dry recyclables – such as paper, plastic, metals and glass – by 2015, where 'technically, environmentally or economically possible' (TEEP). However, Defra has not yet outlined a firm position over which service councils should be operating.
In an executive report outlining the changes, the council’s Head of Operational Services, James Whiteman, wrote: ‘[T]he results of the judicial review are still outstanding but the introduction of TEEP for co-mingled collections is the expected result. In the current recyclable market we are able to justify a change to collecting materials in a co-mingled manner using this method.
'A legal opinion has been sought from Legal Services which confirmed the view that, as long as high quality output is achieved from facilities and we meet the requirements of TEEP, then our approach would be acceptable.'
A spokesperson for Guildford Borough Council concluded: ‘There are many reasons for making the decision to change, including improved capture of recyclables, health and safety and financial reasons. Our report sets these out in depth. We anticipate that we will be able to meet the requirements of TEEP in the future.’
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How will the government and DMOs address the challenges of including glass in DRS while ensuring a level playing field across the UK?
There's no easy solution to include glass in the DRS while maintaining a level playing field. Potential approaches include a phased introduction of glass, potentially with higher deposits to reflect its logistical challenges. The government and DMOs could incentivise innovation in glass packaging design and subsidise dedicated return points for glass-handling. Exemptions for smaller businesses unable to handle glass might also be necessary. Any successful solution will likely blend several approaches. It must address the differing priorities of devolved administrations, balance environmental benefits with logistical and cost implications, and be supported by robust consumer education campaigns emphasizing the importance of glass recycling.