Expanding Nottingham’s collection of sorted waste for recycling - the introduction of the 3rd (grey-lidded, brown) wheelie bin
The extensive information (shown in green) below is taken from a leaflet published by Nottingham City Council.
Gist is -
1. please try to help the scheme be a success; sorting waste for separate collection to allow waste to be recycled is good for the environment;
2. there are issues to address -
· if you find 3 bins are too many for you and your household, take the opportunity to phone the Council to talk your problems through; the recycling team at the council can discuss with householders alternatives of smaller bins, boxes or bags depending on the property; however, the full size bin is the most practical to collect and so the preferred method;
· you may feel you don’t need a brown bin for garden waste - so again, ring the Council;
3. you can minimise smells and problems with unforeseen spills if you bag waste going into the green bin;
4. recycling like this costs the Council more than the previous weekly green bin system; the Council is not saving money, just trying to help save the planet. So again, please try to help the scheme. And wonder how you ever coped when we had the old dustbins, before 240 litre wheelie bins.
The provision of a third bin helps many who've found modern bulky materials such as plastic bottles were causing their green bin to be full towards the end of a fortnight (without crushing items).
Bins serving flats are being considered but there are a number of practical difficulties to address.
Regarding glass, waste from the grey-lid bin will be hand sorted to separate cans, paper etc.; it is just too difficult to separate out broken glass from this process; the mini recycling centres locally will however be upgraded to provide more glass bins.
Recycle for Nottingham
Introducing Your New Recycling Bin For Dry Recyclables
Your new recycling bin
As of July, there are 41,000 households across Nottingham City participating in alternate weekly collections of recyclable materials and domestic waste. This comprises a brown bin for green garden waste and a clear bag for cardboard and paper, collected on alternate weeks to the green domestic waste bin. Of the 41,000 participating households, 5,500 already benefit from a trial scheme enabling the recycling of plastics and cans. As we are now able to recycle more of your waste, Nottingham City Council will be providing you with an additional 240 litre wheeled bin in which to store your dry recyclables. This will be a brown bin with a grey lid.
Your alternate weekly collections will remain the same. All you will need to do is to place your new bin out for collection instead of your clear bag on your recycling week, and your green domestic waste bin on the following week.
You will also be able to place more recyclable materials in the dry recycling bin than you have previously been able to, which should leave you more space in your residual bin.
The list below tells you what you can and cannot put in each bin.
What you need to do
Week one (Recycling)
Brown bin with brown lid for garden waste
The Council CAN accept:
grass cuttings • hedge clippings • wood shavings • dead flowers & plants • potting compost • twigs • small branches • leaves and weeds
Please do not use bin liners or plastic bags.
The Council CANNOT accept:
plastic bags and sacks (no bin liners and do not bag garden waste) • plant pots • large amounts of soil or grass sods • bricks and rubble • household waste • animal waste • treated wood • food waste
Week one (Recycling)
Brown bin with grey lid for dry recycling
The Council CAN accept:
paper, newspapers and magazines • telephone directories • catalogues • holiday brochures • envelopes • cardboard packaging • wrapping paper (not with foil) • steel tins • aluminium cans • margarine tubs • milk and soft drink plastic bottles • shampoo and conditioner plastic bottles • yoghurt pots.
Please clean all containers in your normal washing up.
The Council CANNOT accept:
foil lined orange juice or milk cartons (Tetrapak) • paper tissue or toilet rolls • self adhesive labels and backing paper • aerosol cans • 'Jiffy' bags • plastic carrier bags • tracing paper • wallpaper • bottle caps • foil trays • Engine oil containers
Week two
Green bin for ‘non-recyclables’
Please put any other waste into your green bin.
Please note, the Council cannot accept bricks, rubble or large items either in the green or brown bin as these items can damage our collection vehicles.
Please take any glass bottles or jars to your nearest recycling centre. (These are not collected in the grey lid bin because any breakages make the materials difficult to sort).
Does kerbside recycling work?
The results speak for themselves:
• 7099 tonnes of garden waste was collected to be composted in 2005/2006.
• 5522 tonnes of cardboard and paper was collected for recycling during the same period.
• A combined recycling rate of 32% was achieved in participating areas during 2005/2006.
Despite initial concerns, a satisfaction survey found that the of the 41,000 households currently on the scheme 86% were ‘satisfied’ or ‘more than satisfied’ with the service.
How do we compare overall?
Year
NottinghamCity Council
Top performing council
Bottom performing council
2003/04
8.4%
46%
4%
2004/05
14%
50.64%
6.23%
2005/06
18.6%
Not available
Not available
The composition of an average household waste bin is -
23% Paper & Card
9% Plastic
4% Metal (Ferrous & non ferrous cans)
21% Garden Waste
22% Kitchen Waste
8% Miscellaneous
3% Fines (dust, grit etc).
3% Textiles
6% Glass
1% Wood
Through participation in Nottingham City Council’s kerbside recycling scheme, a typical household can reduce the volume of their waste by over 50%.
How can I minimise my waste?
It is easier than you think to cut down your household waste.
Have a look at these ideas.
Reduce
• Don't buy heavily packed goods.
• Stop junk mail and faxes through the Mailing Preference Service, contact 0845 703 4599 or www.mps-online.org.uk
• Use a nappy laundry service, and save disposable ones for holidays and long journeys. See the Real Nappy Association www.realnappy.com
• Take a packed lunch to work or school in a reusable plastic container.
Reuse
• Your plastic shopping bags - don't get a new one each time you visit the supermarket, take one of your old ones or better still, ask for a 'bag for life'.
• Take unwanted books, toys or clothes to your local charity shop so they can be re-used.
• Buy things in refillable containers e.g. washing powders.
• Buy concentrated products which use less packaging.
• Look for long lasting (and energy efficient) appliances when buying new electrical items - ensure these are well maintained to increase their life.
• Furniture can be sent to local recycling schemes.
• Buy rechargeable batteries wherever possible.
Recycle
• Remember to recycle your empty glass bottles and jars at your local recycling banks. Each year the average family throws away over 300 of them and glass is 100% recyclable. Details of your nearest recycling site are available on our website.
• Choose products in packaging which you know can be recycled.
For further information on how to minimise your waste please contact the Waste Management Team.
What we do with your waste
Garden waste collection
Garden waste from your bin will be taken to a working farm in north Nottinghamwhere it will be processed and put back to land producing crops. The clean material is shredded using a mechanical shredder and laid in windrows that are turned every week for about six weeks.
Collection of dry recyclables
Plastics, cans, tins, paper and cardboard are taken to a separation plant in Colwick. The separated materials are then taken to various facilities to be reprocessed. Paper and cardboard is taken to Birmingham and turned into cardboard. Plastics go to Leicester where they are shredded, reground and made into Kerbstone, decorative tongue and groove strips and artificial decking. Cans are crushed and sent to various foundries for melting into metal products.
Energy from waste
Last year just over half of the city's waste was processed at the Eastcroft combined heat and power plant. The steam produced through thermal treatment of waste is used to supply parts of the city with heating. The excess is used to generate electricity and exported to the national grid.
Landfill
Nottingham City Council is committed to reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill each year.
You can help us by using your brown bins for recycling and reduce Nottingham’s environmental footprint.
Household Waste and Recycling Centres
· Redfield Road Household Waste & Recycling Centre 0115 986 2607
· Calverton Household Waste & Recycling Centre
The role of Household Waste & Recycling Centres is to take the public's overspill waste that will not fit in their wheeled bins. They offer collection points for the following household waste items:
General Waste • Hardcore • Garden Waste • Oil • Metal • Car Batteries • Wood • Bric-a-Brac • Glass • Newspapers & magazines • Cans • Textiles • Gas Cylinders • Plastic Bottles • Cardboard • Fluorescent tubes • Cookers • Washing Machines • Fridges.
Please carry out the site staff's instructions to help people pass through the site as quickly and simply as possible. Wait for your turn at the relevant skip.
The opening times for both sites are:
1 March - 31 March
8.00am to 6.00pm
1 April to 30 September
8.00am to 8.00pm
1 October - 31 October
8.00am to 6.00pm
1 November to 28 February
8.00am to 4.00pm
They are open all Bank Holidays with the exception of Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.
These sites CANNOT accept waste or recyclable materials from businesses or commercial properties.
How to Contact the Waste Management Team
Telephone: 0115 915 2126
Fax: 0115 915 2064
Address:
Waste Management
Nottingham City Council
Neighbourhood Services
Eastcroft
London Road
Nottingham
NG2 3AH
If you are concerned about fitting all your bins on your property, contact the Waste Management section for support on 0115 915 2126.
If you currently have a brown bin for garden waste that you do not use, please contact the Waste Management team for further information.
Please remember to remove your bins from the pavement after collection.
Moving on, there have been some queries as to why the City Council doesn't do more -
RECYCLING: BEACON STATUS & COMPARING PERFORMANCE
REFLECTIVE COMPARTORS & RAISING PERFORMANCE Many factors can influence the performance and costs associated with kerbside recycling and it’s often unreliable to compare a much larger urban authority with a smaller borough or district. The variation between authorities can be considerable and are influenced by numerous factors such as local socio-demographics, population size, waste management operational infrastructure, housing type and deprivation indices. All of which when combined influence a Council’s recycling performance and related waste management costs. It is however recognised that Rushcliffe District Council, for instance, have made significant strides to improve recycling performance over the last few years by introducing alternate week, kerbside collection for dry recycling and garden waste, very similar in approach to Nottingham’s kerbside recycling. Unlike Rushcliffe however Nottingham, as a unitary authority, must also factor in the additional waste reprocessing costs under its duty as Waste Disposal Authority when considering raising recycling performance. These are not costs bourn by Boroughs or Districts such a Rushcliffe, which again makes comparison on costs between the City and Rushcliffe difficult. A more reflective comparison would be to use the benchmarking group of the eight Core Cities. These comprise Bristol, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield, Nottingham, Liverpool, Leeds and Birmingham. Raising recycling and composting performance to say 50% would be considerably challenging and expensive for any Waste Disposal Authority . In recognition of these challenges a recent Government consultation paper reviewing England’s Waste Strategy propose in the short term a freeze to recycling targets for high performing authorities at 30% and create a recycling commonality between the remainder to achieve a 20% recycling rate by 2007/08 BENCHMARKING & CORE CITIES As a rudimentary benchmark Rushcliffe District Council, in 2004/05, spent almost £15 per household more than the City on waste collection. However, a more detailed analysis of cost comparators would be necessary to provide a more representative reflection of real costs the City would have to meet an ambitious 50% recycling rate. In contrast, in 2004/05, Nottingham’s recycling rate of 14% (18.6% in 2005/06) was comparable to many of the other 7 Core Cities (the main English cities outside of London). The range of collection costs for the same Core Cities demonstrate that meeting varied recycling rates can have a wide variance in collection costs. Again, a more detailed comparative exercise would be necessary to identify the cost differentials of kerbside recycling for core cities and how this could be reflected in improving Nottingham’s recycling performance. It is however, encouraging that Nottingham is continuing to have comparatively low collection costs of £34 per household, but continues to maintain a positive rise in its recycling performance each year. It is also useful to note that most other Core Cities already have citywide kerbside collections achieving recycling rates that Nottingham has accomplished with kerbside dry recycling/composting to just a third of the City. WASTE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY & FINANCIAL ANALYSIS The City is at the early stages of developing its waste management strategy, evaluating a number of scenarios that maximise recycling and recovery targets and that respond to the very challenging requirements of the Landfill Directive to significantly reduce landfill over the next 15 years.
[Last updated 2006-07-30]
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