WYG’s research finds significant benefits to co-mingled recycling
Press Release
12 April 2012
WYG’s research finds significant benefits to co-mingled recycling
According to a report published today, co-mingled collections are a positive step to many local authorities, reducing costs and increasing the proportion of household waste being recycled.
The findings, from global multi-disciplinary consultancy WYG, with financial contributions from recycling specialists Biffa and a leading trade association, PlasticsEurope, highlight that 20 of the 30 top performing councils in Britain for dry recycling collection operate a fully co-mingled service that includes glass.
WYG’s researchers analysed WasteDataFlow information submitted to central government by local authorities for the year 2010/11 to identify the key drivers to the top performing and most improved councils for collecting dry recycling. This year’s report also features a focus on plastics collection: analysing which authorities collect the most plastics, the collection methods used by the top performers, and the carbon impacts of the different collection methods.
Len Attrill, Project Director, WYG said: “As has been the case in the two previous years, the highest performing councils in terms of dry recycling are dominated by authorities that collect co-mingled dry recycling, with both recycling and residual waste collected fortnightly using wheeled bins.”
Although affluent areas tend to have higher yields of all materials, the analysis reveals that fully co-mingled collections including glass tend to outperform kerbside sorted collections by a similar margin across all levels of affluence.
The council with the highest yield of recycling (at 295kg per household per year) is Surrey Heath.
This highest performing fully co-mingled authority collects nearly 60kg per household per year more than Guildford, the highest performing authority that collects using mainly kerbside sort.
Findings have also highlighted that no authority in the top 30 for kerbside sort recycling collects all materials separately: two collect mainly using kerbside sort, but provide co-mingled collections for some materials or some households. These two authorities collect recycling weekly; 26 out of the top 30 kerbside sort collecting councils collect fortnightly.
Of the top 30 councils for plastics collected at the kerbside:
• Staffordshire Moorlands achieved the highest yield for plastic with 42kg per household per year
• 25 collect plastic containers as well as plastic bottles
• All except one collect plastics within a co-mingled stream – only Newport collects plastics as a separate stream.
The results show that some councils are recycling significant quantities of plastics at the kerbside, with many high performers collecting plastic containers as well as plastic bottles and co-mingling plastics with other materials to accommodate the range and volume of materials.
Analysis of the 15 highest improvers for kerbside recycling between 2009/10 and 2010/11 showed that 11 of them moved to fully co-mingled collections that include glass. The three authorities that continued collecting using kerbside sort added plastics and cardboard and moved from fortnightly to weekly recycling collections and from weekly to fortnightly refuse collections.
Len summarised: “The degree of difference in yields between kerbside-sort schemes and fully co-mingled collections including glass is significant. Taken as a whole, the research has highlighted that co-mingling can deliver a high performing, high quality recycling service that reduces the amount of waste sent to landfill sites, resulting in significant savings both to the environment and the taxpayer.”
WYG’s report ‘Review of Kerbside Recycling Collection Schemes in the UK 2010/11’ is available at www.wyg.com/recyclingreview or by email from waste.enquiries@wyg.com.
ENDS
Notes
Findings are based on analysis of kerbside recycling performance of local authorities across England, Scotland and Wales in 2010/11. Northern Ireland could not be included as its data was not publicly available at the time of the analysis being undertaken.
The report contains clear tables of recycling performance by local council.
WYG notes to editors
We are an established global management and technical consultancy to the built and natural environment that collaborates with clients in over 40 countries to help them realise their corporate and project ambitions. We are focused on providing high quality, high value professional services by optimising our skills in design, engineering, environment, transportation, project management, planning and socio-economic needs.
As part of our environmental services, we have a specialist waste team to help clients develop new waste and resource management strategies, systems and facilities. Since the year 2000, WYG has delivered over 200 projects for 22 London Boroughs, 22 Unitary or Metropolitan Authorities, six County/District Partnerships and 91 District or Borough Councils, in addition to private sector and other public sector clients. www.wyg.com
PlasticsEurope notes to editors
PlasticsEurope is one of the leading European trade associations with centres in Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan and Paris. We are networking with European and national plastics associations and have more than 100 member companies, producing over 90% of all polymers across the EU27 member states plus Norway, Switzerland, Croatia and Turkey.
The European plastics industry makes a significant contribution to the welfare in Europe by enabling innovation, creating quality of life to citizens and facilitating resource efficiency and climate protection. More than 1.6 million people are working in about 50.000 companies (mainly small and medium sized companies in the converting sector) to create a turnover in excess of 300 billion € per year. The plastics industry includes polymer producers - represented by PlasticsEurope, converters - represented by EuPC and machine manufacturers - represented by EUROMAP. www.plasticseurope.org
Biffa Municipal notes to editors
The municipal division of recycling, waste and renewable energy business Biffa (www.biffa.co.uk) currently provides high quality, efficient recycling, refuse, street cleansing and grounds maintenance services for over 40 local authorities in England, Wales and Scotland. The division expanded considerably in late 2010 when municipal services specialist Verdant Group, and its 24 local authority contracts, joined Biffa when Greenstar UK was acquired. The municipal business makes over 2½ million collections per week, and employs in excess of 2,500 staff who use over 1,000 vehicles. Its notable successes include helping South Oxfordshire District Council achieve a recycling and composting rate of 70% during 2010, placing the council second in Defra’s 2009-2010 league tables for overall recycling, composting and reuse and winning a LARAC Award for the most improved recycling authority. The first months of Vale of White Horse District Council’s new service saw its recycling and composting rate match that of its South Oxfordshire neighbour, while a redesigned service for Surrey Heath Borough Council doubled its recycling and composting rate to almost 65%, helping it meet its 2025 target almost 15 years early.
Regards
Amy Bhavra
PR and Communications Executive
Group Communications
WYG GROUP LTD
Arndale Court, Headingley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS6 2UJ
Tel: 44 (0)113 219 7152
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