Council to look again at ways to boost recycling

Councillor Alan Taylor, Leader of the Council, using a sustainable Bag for Life to buy fruit and vegetables without packaging from Paul Smedley at Paul's Fruit and Veg stall in Rochdale Market

Senior managers of Rochdale Council have been asked to look again at ways to increase dramatically the amount of refuse recycled in the borough rather than going to be dumped in landfill sites.

The move comes in response to concerns expressed by some local residents about the alternate weekly collection system that sees recyclable materials and other waste to go to landfill sites being collected alternate weeks.

"Councillors have listened to local people's concerns about alternate weekly collections and we have asked for a report on how we can deal with those concerns but still improve our recycling rate," said Councillor Alan Taylor, Leader of the Council.

"We need to recycle much more because we are throwing away valuable materials that could be made into new, usable products and at the same time we are paying landfill tax for dumping this useful material in holes in the ground.

"The alternate weekly collection system has already shown that it can help us recycle much more and many people across the borough support that system and use it enthusiastically.

"But because there are some concerns about the system we are looking at it again to see if improvements can be made and if so what they will cost.

"I have asked the officers to look again at recycling and areas for improvement. For example, is there a viable alternative to the alternate weekly collections; are there improvements to the alternate weekly collection that we can make?

"I have also asked for costings for all these suggestions, and finally, what effect do the Government's new proposals have?"

The Council's Cabinet on Tuesday 29 May agreed to a proposal by Councillor Taylor that officers should identify possible alternative approaches to recycling and waste collection that could achieve a dramatic increase in the proportion of household waste that is recycled and reduce the overall amount of household waste produced.

The officers will spell out the full estimated costs of any proposals over a five-year period and recommend future policy on the issue, taking into account the new government policy on increasing recycling announced last week.

The report will be considered by the Cabinet, each Township Committee and the Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committee, which gives opposition councillors the chance to question and influence Council policies.

During the Cabinet meeting, Councillor Taylor also said that the government's new waste strategy called for a radical reduction in the amount of waste going to landfill sites but didn't say how this could be achieved or provide any investment in making it happen.

He said that about one fifth of household waste was packaging but that manufacturers and retailers would not reduce packaging unless they faced the same legal and financial pressures as councils.

"Around 13 billion plastic carrier bags are currently used every year in the UK.  Retailers pledged earlier this year to reduce the environmental impact of plastic bags by 25% by the end of 2008," he said.

"Retailers should go much further and simply stop handing out plastic bags and instead give their customers re-usable fabric bags."

Councillor Taylor also said that the Council should lead by example by improving its own recycling performance and by helping schools and charities do the same.

Alternate weekly collections of household refuse has been running in the Pennines Township and parts of Rochdale since June last year and is now being extended into Heywood and those parts of the Rochdale Township where refuse is collected on Wednesdays - including Castleton, Bamford and parts of Norden.