|
Recycling for Good - North Lanarkshire Household Recycling Pilot |
|
|
|
Friday, 13 August 2004 |
|
|
BTCV set up a pilot scheme starting in March 2002 to carry out a fortnightly collection of dry household waste from 27,000 households in North Lanarkshire, including Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and neighbouring towns and villages. The scheme was promoted by North Lanarkshire Council and BTCV Scotland and created five new posts for local residents.
Overview
KEY PARTNERS
- North Lanarkshire Forward
- North Lanarkshire Council
- Scottish Waste Awareness Group
FUNDERS
North Lanarkshire Forward - £70,000
North Lanarkshire Council - £50,000
Fresh Futures - £25,988
Plan
NEED
Household waste represents a large percentage of landfill and targets have been set through Local Area Waste Plans and the National Waste Strategy to reduce the amount of household waste being sent to landfill.
Discussions with North Lanarkshire Council identified a need to improve individual and community accessibility to recycling. Existing 'bring to' recycling facilities account for only 1.4% of household waste.
PURPOSE
To reduce the amount of household waste going to landfill in the northern part of North Lanarkshire and to encourage greater recycling through promotion of the scheme. The income from selling recyclate will be ploughed back into the projects.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The household recycling project will contribute to the requirement for North Lanarkshire Council to reduce the amount of waste being sent to landfill and aims to:
- introduce a local recycling programme to a population with none;
- improve public access to recycling by involving individuals and communities in the recycling process;
- identify a practicable and cost-effective means for the introduction of household recycling across all of North Lanarkshire;
- provide local employment and volunteering opportunities.
The project will create five new posts (4 full time and 1 part time) and hopes to involve local New Deal participants and to deliver SVQs in Waste Minimisation in future.
Progress
GETTING ESTABLISHED
BTCV (Action Recycle) currently runs a household recycling project in Falkirk, West Lothian & Stirling where participation is in the region of 40%. For these schemes Action Recycle collects paper, cardboard, cans and textiles from the kerbside.
The North Lanarkshire pilot focuses on the collection of dry recyclate, that is, paper, newsprint, magazines, textiles, aluminium and steel cans and for the first time will also collect and process glass. These items represent around 30% by weight of household waste.
Selected beats in North Lanarkshire were agreed with the Council covering a total of 27,000 homes. All households were distributed with two separate bags, one for the collection of paper waste and the other for cans, foil and glass.
IMPLEMENTATION
The project had four important stages in its implementation:
- initial community consultation/involvement;
- further consultation and pre-operational purchasing;
- collection of dry recyclate; and
- additional promotion and collection of statistics.
To date a total of 2,190 tonnes of household waste has been recycled from 27,000 households in the northern part of North Lanarkshire.
Participation has been disappointing compared with the schemes which operate in West Lothian, Falkirk and Stirling which covers 130,000 households. The aim is to increase the level of waste being collected from the 27,000 houses to 1,500 tons per year, an increase of 50%.
FUTURE STEPS
Additional funding from North Lanarkshire Council will enable the project to increase promotion of the recycling scheme through street canvassers. The project manager will also attend Community Council and Council meetings and send representatives along to community groups to raise awareness.
The pilot is due to be monitored at the end of March 2003 and if successful, the Council hope to extend the project to 120,000 households.
Review
THE PROCESS
The pilot should have benefited more from being run by BTCV who have 12 years of experience of running kerbside collection programmes.
The project has been supported by the local landfill tax operators and the Council and was promoted along with the Council's Home Composting project through roadshows.
The local community were informed through public meetings, leaflet drops and through local radio and newspapers. The results of this activity have been less successful than was hoped for.
THE OUTCOMES
Although the initial target of recycling 2,000 tonnes of waste in the first year of operation was not met, the pilot achieved the following outcomes:
- 1,200 tonnes of household waste recycled from 27,000 households;
- creation of five new posts (4 full time and 1 part time)
The aim for 2004 is to recycle 1,500 tonnes of waste.
THE LESSONS
There is a tendency to exaggerate the likely collection tonnage.
First year tonnage will be higher than second unless there is a continuing action to promote the scheme. The mere action of collecting such waste as householders put out is not in itself a promotional activity. The promotional activity must be a planned joint effort by both the Council and the collecting organisation.
There is some evidence that the option to have bins instead of bags has produced a better return. Some households still wish to retain bags as bins present a space problem.
|
Communities