New waste service will improve recycling for Tewkesbury residents (From Tewkesbury Admag)

New waste service will improve recycling for Tewkesbury residents

10:57am Thursday 4th February 2010

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TEWKESBURY residents can soon benefit from a new waste and recycling service throughout the borough.

The scheme is set to go live in April as part of Tewkesbury Borough Council’s drive to improve recycling.

At present, people can recycle about 33 per cent of all household waste, but government targets for the next few years have put pressure on councils around the country 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 more than 60 per cent with this new service, and which has already been achieved by other councils using the same scheme.

The scheme will allow for extra materials to be recycled and will also 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.

The blue 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.

Two food caddies will be delivered for food waste - the small caddy is for use in the kitchen, while the large caddy will store the food waste that is collected.

The green bin will be for any remaining waste that can’t be recycled or composted.

The food waste collection will be a weekly service, while the green and blue bin collections will alternate.

For example:

• Week 1: Food waste and green bin

• Week 2: Food waste and blue bin Tewkesbury Borough Council’s 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.

“The 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.”

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