Recycling rates in St Albans reach all-time high
Plastic waste after being separated from the food waste at the Agrivert recycling plant in Colney Heath. Picture: DANNY LOO - Credit: Picture: DANNY LOO
Recycling rates around St Albans have hit an all-time high, beating the national trend and local target.
St Albans district council has exceed its recycling target. Picture: St Albans district council - Credit: Archant
Measured by weight, 62.1 per cent of waste was recycled by local residents in the 12 months before March this year, a figure higher than the year previous, which was 59.6 per cent.
It is ahead of the St Albans district council (SADC) target of 60 per cent and the national trend of 44.8 per cent.
During the year, the district’s recycling rate exceeded 60 per cent in every month but two, with a peak in May at 66.5 per cent.
The amount of landfill waste collected by SADC also fell during the year by 1,723 to 19,203 tonnes.
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Head of community services at SADC, Joe Tavernier, said: “We could not have done [this] without the active support of our residents who have responded very positively to our campaigns and initiatives to recycle more.
“Our focus will now be in improving the recycling rate in flats where there is a high turnover of residents and often as consequence of this, a low awareness of our recycling rules.
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“We still want to see more food waste recycled. Also, we will be promoting our new service that allows for an additional garden-waste bin to be collected every fortnight.
“Along with our waste contractor Veolia, we will be working hard to achieve these goals and raise the recycling rate even further in the year ahead.”
The figures were presented to an SADC Cabinet meeting on April 25.
SADC hope these statistics will ensure the authority is included in the top ten English districts for recycling - it currently occupies 13th out of 350.
An updated table is due to be published later this year.
Council initiatives to encourage recycling include a side-waste refusal policy, which means any black bags left outside the brown bin will not be collected.
It has also been promoting a food waste processing facility near London Colney, the Agrivert North London Anaerobic Digestion Facility, by offering free tours of and talks on the site.
To book a tour, visit http://bit.ly/2DxaWzEView the SADC papers at http://stalbans.moderngov.co.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=117&MId=8651
