New scheme encourages more recycling
A new waste and recycling service in Tewkesbury Borough is set to go live in April as part of Tewkesbury Borough Council's drive to improve recycling across the borough.Residents currently recycle 33 per cent of all household waste – but targets for the next few years put pressure on Councils to increase recycling rates to 50 per cent by 2015 and 60 per cent by 2020.
Tewkesbury Borough Council hopes to reach a recycling rate of over 60 per cent with this new service – and this has already been achieved by other Councils using the same scheme.
To encourage residents to recycle as much as possible, Tewkesbury Borough Council's service allows extra materials to be recycled and will now allow residents to recycle all food waste.
The addition of food waste to the service is vital as the government has set a limit which determines how much biodegradable can be waste to landfill. Council's which exceed this must pay to send more to landfill.
All food waste collected in the new service will be recycled into compost, which is sent to be used on local farms.
During March and April, households will receive blue-wheeled bins and food waste caddies to use in addition to their green-wheeled bins:
Blue bin: The blue wheeled bin will replace the current green recycling box. Providing the blue bin means residents will be able to recycle plastic bottles and cardboard, as well as everything else they recycle now.
Food caddies: The two caddies will be used for food waste. The small caddy is for use in the kitchen to collect the food waste. The large caddy will store the food waste that is collected in the small caddy for a weekly collection. The food waste will be recycled in to compost.
Green bin: The green-wheeled bin will be for any remaining waste that can't be recycled or composted.
It will still be a weekly collection service, which will look like this:
Week 1: Food waste and green bin
Week 2: Food waste and blue bin
Tewkesbury Borough Council's Lead Member for Clean and Green Environment Cllr Jim Mason said: "Our residents do a very good job when it comes to recycling – but we now need to take it to the next level.
If our recycling figures don't improve, we run the risk of being faced with financial penalties.
"Our new recycling system is already used by many Councils throughout the UK and is proving to be very effective and popular – so I really urge residents to recycle as much as possible."
Please note: A leaflet explaining the new waste and recycling system will be delivered to all households from next week.