Residents welcome Council Recycling Strategy

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In a report just published by Rochdale Council, over 72% of residents are using the kerbside recycling scheme, whilst a further 8% are using the Civic Amenity and bring sites meaning that the overall recycling target has gone up to almost 15%.

In April 2005, only half of the households registered on the recycling scheme were shown to be taking part. To encourage more households to take part, the council launched a variety of schemes, including the prize draw partnership with United Co-operatives and the ‘Everybody wins’ advertising campaign aimed at those who are reluctant to recycle.

Further funding from DEFRA has been obtained and a new paper collection round has been introduced covering 12,000 extra properties. Plans have been drawn up to extend this to a further 12,000 provided the initial targets are achieved.

To date around 320 tonnes of recyclable waste is diverted from landfill every month and these figures are rising.

Tara Dumas, Waste Minimisation Manager said:“Although the recycling rate is growing, we all need to do more to attain the Government target of 20%. It is very encouraging that we are now capturing over 72% of glass on our kerbside collections and I would like to think that we can increase the amount of paper and tins collected.”