Paper and cardboard recycling increases by 70%

[wolfman]

Local authorities in England say dumping rubbish in landfill sites will cost the average home £30 this year.

They say the taxes imposed on councils for using landfill, which are aimed at encouraging more recycling, should be put back into recycling facilities.

The Local Government Association said its members were "caught in a trap".

From April, councils will have to pay £40 per tonne of landfill rubbish. By 2010, the tax will have doubled over three years to nearly £50 a tonne.

The government's landfill tax is aimed at encouraging councils to send less material to landfill and recycle more.

At current rates of landfill use, the tax this year will cost the equivalent of £30 for every household in England, the Local Government Association (LGA) said.

'Catch 22'

Paul Bettison, chairman of the LGA environment board, said: "The logic (of the landfill tax) works fine but if you cannot afford to install the necessary systems for recycling, then you are stuck just paying the landfill tax.

"This money just goes into the general exchequer and the government are loathe to give it back to councils."

He called for the money to be ring-fenced for investment in additional recycling schemes.

Councils have to approach the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to request a share of the revenue raised.

But a spokesman said it was the middleman and it was the Treasury which decided whether cash should go back into local authority budgets.

Figures out earlier this week suggested householders in England have recycled £1.1bn worth of rubbish in the past five years.

The Recycle Now campaign said that was the value of the materials such as glass and paper sent for recycling since 2003.

It said 33.8m tonnes of rubbish had been sent for recycling - an amount that would have cost £1.8bn to send to landfill and would fill the Royal Albert Hall more than 1,000 times.

The LGA said councils only saw a fraction of the £1.1bn as many companies were involved in the recycling process.

from BBC website author not stated

[wolfman]

Paper and cardboard recycling in Stockport has increased by 70% since blue wheelie bins were introduced.
 
 
 
Stockport Council delivered the bins in April last year to 30,000 houses across the borough. Between April and September 2008, 5045.89 tonnes of cardboard and paper was collected. This is an increase of 70% in the same period in 2007.

The Council is currently making plans to expand the scheme further later this year with all other suitable households receiving a blue bin. In addition to this, households will receive a brown wheelie bin enabling residents to recycle plastic bottles from the kerbside. Residents can also use this bin to recycle their glass bottles and jars, aluminium drink cans, steel food tins and empty aerosol cans.

Councillor Stuart Bodsworth, Executive Member for the Environment, said: “The blue bin scheme has only been in place since April 2008 but it has already been a big success. Many residents who have not yet received a blue bin have been requesting one –it is great to see so many people enthusiastic about recycling.”

Iain Roberts, who lives in Gatley with his family, received a blue bin from the Council in April 2008. The bin was a welcome addition to the household as previously the family took cardboard and drinks cartons to their local household recycling site.

Iain said: “Before we had the blue bin, we had the white sack which we used to put newspapers in but it was never big enough. This bin means we have a lot more space for everything. The only thing we can’t recycle is plastic bottles so it will be fantastic when we receive the brown bin later this year.

“Recycling is important – we are always trying to reduce our waste. We have a compost bin in the garden which we bought through the Council from the WRAP Home Composting Scheme. We also have a green cone which is similar to a compost bin but takes all kinds of food waste so that really helps us cut down on what we throw away.”

For further information about recycling and waste go to www.stockport.gov.uk/waste

To order a compost bin, phone 0845 077 0757.
 
 SMBC website author unknown.