Tuesday 9th June 2009
New WRAP recycling collection guidance
welcomed by reprocessing industry.
The Campaign for Real Recycling (CRR) today welcomes new guidance from WRAP “Choosing the Right Recycling Collection System”, which concludes that kerbside sort collections offer “lower net costs for council tax payers” and that this collection system “should be preferred … in the majority of local authority areas.”
Mal Williams, Chair of CRR, said: “We welcome this guidance and are pleased that WRAP has taken this lead. It makes the point very effectively that recycling collections are more than a variation on waste collections. It also explains how the pursuit of quality and value for money go hand in hand, as kerbside sort collections produce better recyclates and cost less. We hope local authorities will find this guidance offers the clear direction they have been asking for.”
Chris White of Paperchain added: “This is a very timely piece of guidance, not least because it puts into context the waste caused by single stream co-mingled collection systems. As the guidance notes, the 10% reject rates from fully co-mingled MRFs are compounded by additional reject rates from the reprocessing industry further down the chain. The leaflet provides clear and concise guidance on the best way to recycle and should be required reading for anybody responsible for choosing which recycling systems to employ.”
Andy Moore summarised: “This guidance usefully puts in proportion issues of cost effectiveness, health and safety and householder inclination, all of which have been subject to a degree of mythology recently. It is short but comprehensive and we would urge all local authorities to study it carefully and soon.”
Information for Editors:
1. The Campaign for Real Recycling
wants central government and local authorities to act urgently to improve the quality of materials collected for recycling in the UK. Real recycling is about maximising the economic, environmental and social benefits of recycling for everyone, from the local council tax payer to the global re-processing industry. Our concern is that collection systems that gather a range of different materials in one bag or bin and then compact them could permanently undermine the environmental and financial benefits of recycling. Our campaign aims to influence local authority policy and practice, and build consensus within the UK of the economic and environmental importance of highly separated collections.
2. Campaign for Real Recycling supporters:
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