The States of Guernsey authority has voted to export its waste to Europe, and to get rid of landfills altogether by 2016.

The decision forms part of the authority’s 2012 Waste Strategy, which highlighted that an alternative to landfilling was needed as the Mont Cuet landfill could reach capacity by 2022, and that the ‘landfill of putrescible waste causes an unacceptable level of damage to the environment’.

As such, the states agreed late last year that from 2016, it will ship all its non-recyclable waste to energy-from-waste plants for recovery in Europe .

The decision has been controversial, and last week Deputy Laurie Queripel led a motion to reject the export plans and instead open more landfills. However, this motion was quashed by deputies, who voted 33-4 against the plans.

The alternative solution to export, the construction of Guernsey’s own energy-from-waste plant, has also been rejected. This follows a departure from previous attempts to commission one. In 2003 and 2009 respectively, environmental companies Lurgi UK and Suez Environment were commissioned to build energy-from-waste plants but due to high costs, both projects were scrapped.

The authority now argues such a plant would be ‘too large for [its] future requirements, because the waste [it] produce[s] is falling, and is expected to fall further through additional measures to encourage recycling and reduction’.

Rise in cost to residents

As well as changing the way residual waste in managed, the states will also develop new infrastructure for recycling, and the authority is currently tendering contracts for a new materials recycling facility (MRF) to process dry recyclables, an in-vessel composting (IVC) unit to process organic waste,

The way waste management is funded will also change. Currently, waste disposal is funded out of general taxation (around £2 a week), whereas from 2016 – when the export of waste will begin and the relevant on-island recycling processing facilities are in place – residents will instead be subject to specific ‘waste charges’ based on household size.

These are estimated to be around £4 a week and will cover:

• the cost of all collections, including kerbside recycling;
• the provision of waste-reduction facilities and initiatives, such as a new ‘repair and reuse’ centre;
• the processing of recyclables and food waste; and
• the preparation for export, and export of, all non-recyclable waste.

The charges will also be used to reward islanders who do recycle and reduce waste.

It is expected that the total cost of dealing with the island’s waste will be around £12.5 million in 2016.

New recycling system

In the meantime, Guernsey residents will receive interim kerbside dry-recycling collections along with their usual waste collection service from waste management company Mayside Recycling.

From March 2014, materials will be taken to Mayside Recycling’s waste licensed facilities at Les Monmains industrial estate, where new MRF processing equipment will be installed.

Starting this week (17 February), residents will receive new purpose-designed plastic bags for use in the interim service.

The bags, made from recycled plastic and manufactured by Gelpak, are colour-coded for the recycling of separate materials. Clear bags are being provided for mixed paper and cardboard, and blue bags for mixed tins, cans, plastic containers and drinks cartons. The parish bin men will collect clear bags one week, and blue ones the next.

Once collected, the bags will be themselves recycled, on the basis that they are clean.

Public Services Recycling Officer, Tina Norman-Ross, said the delivery of the bags and information packs will signal to islanders how close the new service is. She said: “We're getting very excited about the launch, and hopefully islanders will be too.

“Kerbside collections will make recycling a great deal easier and more convenient. We hope that will help people who currently visit the bring banks to recycle a bit more than they do now, and anyone who up until now have not started recycling will have that extra encouragement now.”

She added that the interim scheme will also be used for ‘information gathering’, ahead of the full kerbside service roll out In 2016.

Read more about Guernsey’s waste strategy.