Jan '06: New figures released by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) showed the Council recycled 28pc of household waste in 2004-05 - way above the North-East local authority average of 16pc and the national average of 23pc. The percentage has more than doubled from the previous year, following the introduction of a borough-wide twin bin recycling scheme in 2004. One in seven households has also signed up to a fortnightly green waste collection service and next month (February) a pilot glass collection scheme is being launched for more than 2,000 homes in Lynemouth and Widdrington - not one of the areas served by the borough's 26 glass recycling sites.
Oct '04: The twin bin system is now operating across the Borough. There are some teething problems still - notably erratic shortfalls and surpluses of the white plastic bags supplied to households without capacity for two bins. These are reported to be 'biodegradable' but I haven't carried out any tests.
There's also a green bag scheme for garden waste being pilotted then slowly extended across the Borough
Now we need to extend the range of waste recycled - and start preferentially purchasing products (say that with your teeth in!) made from recycled materials.
Latest news (Jan '04) is that the twin bin scheme is going to be rolled out across most of the Borough April-June '04. So - everyone will have a blue bin for dry recyclables (paper, some plastics, tins - but not glass which will still need to go to the 'Bring' sites) and a black bin for non-recyclable waste. The two bins will be emptied on alternate weeks. Our officers expect that recycling of 40% should be achievable fairly easily - but there may be problems for some in storing two bins. Lets hope the advice leaflets are clear!
In the meantime, please continue to use the ‘Bring’ sites – and we’ll do our best to keep the tidy and empty them more frequently.
Oct '03
Castle Morpeth has perhaps the best level of recycling and composting in the North East – 14.62% of domestic waste in the last quarter. This is largely down to the good will and commitment of everyone who uses the ‘Bring’ sites, the twin bin schemes and now the kerbside paper collection.
But it isn’t good enough: the Government has set Castle Morpeth a target of 30% domestic waste recycled by 2005 (as a 'reward' for our success) and it is technically possible to recycle 75-80% of domestic waste using conventional measures, and with a little innovative thinking ‘zero waste’ should be achievable.
And – before recycling – we should be looking at ways of:
i) Minimising waste – currently each resident of Castle Morpeth generates on average about half a tonne of waste a year.
ii) Re-using things: returnable milk bottles are re-filled on average seven times before they break, non-returnable wine bottles end up in the recycling skip after just one use
iii) Repair: why is it often cheaper and easier to buy a new fridge, TV, hi-fi etc than get the old one mended?
And of course - recycling only works if there is a market for the recycled product. Castle Morpeth BC does not currently have a purchasing policy in favour of buying recycled products - do you?
The other side of the coin is that if we don't reduce the waste going to landfill by waste minimisation and recycling - the County Council will build at least one incinerator (or 'energy from waste' plant) - the site is already identified from what I hear - and the County Waste Management Strategy proposes a review to determine the need for an incinerator (or EfW) in 2006-7.
