Broxbourne Borough Council will begin to roll out a new recycling system next week (5 October) that collects more separated materials after abandoning plans for a fully co-mingled system due to cost.

The new system, which also reduces frequency of residual waste collection to fortnightly, aims to bring down the contamination rate of the organics collection by using a new kerbside box to collect cardboard, instead of mixing it with food and garden waste.

The council predicts that the changes will reduce residual waste by 3,000 tonnes (16 per cent) per year, lower the cost of collecting refuse and recycling by £200,000 (nine per cent) per year, which will achieve a return on investment in the new system within three years.

Poor recycling and contamination leading to change

Broxbourne currently produces more residual waste per household (597 kilogrammes per household per year) than any other district in Hertfordshire as well as having the lowest recycling rate (35.0 per cent).

A 2012 analysis of waste composition in Broxbourne, commissioned by the council, found that 59 per cent of the residual waste collections could have been recycled using the existing recycling service, and that 7,900 tonnes per year could be diverted from the waste stream into recycling, the equivalent, it said, of ‘790 refuse freighters full of waste’.

The current inclusion of cardboard in collections of green and food waste has, the council says, led to difficulties. On its website it states that the ‘quantity and type of cardboard’ being sent for IVC processing means it is not breaking down and is often forced into landfill, at significant cost to the council.

The borough’s 2013/14 recycling and compost rate of 35.1 per cent was hindered by this green waste contamination, which Peter Linkson, Group Environmental Services Manager at the council said at an Environmental Panel held in March caused a three per cent reduction in the rate.

Linkson continued to say that the rejected loads, due to cardboard not removed from the waste stream, posed a ‘significant financial and environmental risk’.

Details of the new service

Residents will receive a new 180 litre wheeled bin for non-recyclable waste to replace the purple sacks currently used. Instead of being collected every week these will be collected fortnightly.

A 55 litre kerbside box will take mixed paper and cardboard, with large flat-packed cardboard boxes also collected. Cans and plastics will continue to be collected together, and glass separately, in two other 55 litre boxes. These will be collected on the same week as residual waste.

The green-wheeled bin currently used for garden waste, food waste and cardboard will continue to be used for organic waste. This will be taken fortnightly on weeks that residual waste and dry recycling is not collected.

Council abandoned co-mingled plans

The move to introduce an additional bin to the system comes despite the council previously deciding to introduce a fully co-mingled service two years ago.

At a meeting in June 2013, the cabinet approved an alternate weekly collection service that replaced the two boxes with a single co-mingled bin, but roll-out was delayed as the price for co-mingled recycling originally quoted by the council’s materials processor was retracted.

Subsequent procurement failed to find a processor that would make the change ‘financially viable’ and the switch was abandoned.

Prices for paper have fallen sharply in recent years, with the price of mixed paper dropping by 50 per cent since 2010.

Change ‘needed for environmental reasons’

Commenting on the changes to service, Councillor Tim Hutchings, Cabinet Member for Public and Environmental Protection said: “We pride ourselves on providing good quality, value for money services and we continuously look for ways to make our services better for local people in an affordable way.

“Residents will no longer have the inconvenience and expense of visiting our One Stop Shops to collect and pay for additional sacks. There will be no more mess on our streets from sacks that have split or been torn open by foxes and other animals.

“In addition, we need these changes for wider environmental reasons. At present, the level of recycling in Broxbourne considerably under-performs the rest of the county and scarce natural resources are being thrown away.

“The financial support we get from central government to run all our services is being significantly cut back. The new system will reduce service costs by some £215,000, which will help us to sustain other key services that we provide in the Borough. “

Read more about the change of collection service in Broxbourne Borough Council.