Project to reach 50% recycling rate

Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority is aiming to reach 50% recycling and composting rates by 2015

Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority (GMWDA) is aiming to reach 50% recycling and composting rates by 2015.

To achieve this, a new project has been set up, which will give us a better understanding of what is in Greater Manchester’s household waste and recycling containers. Entec UK will be undertaking the project.

The project involves some household waste being sorted to establish what is left in the disposal waste stream now that Greater Manchester residents are achieving 34% recycling and composting. This will allow us to provide further help to improve recycling rates.

The information obtained from the waste and recycling sort will be confidential and will only be used to improve recycling rates. Although the recycling will be taken away for sorting it will be returned to the recycling stream for reprocessing.

Quite simply with the help of residents, GMWDA can help save Greater Manchester’s valuable resources, which equals a better environment benefiting everyone.

The project will commence with a questionnaire door step survey before Christmas, and the first waste sort will be undertaken in the New Year. The analysis only provides a ‘snapshot’ in time, so a further waste sorting exercise will need to be carried out later in the year to account for changes in seasonality.

Councillor Neil Swannick, Chair of GMWDA commented: “Whilst Greater Manchester residents have done really well increasing the amount we recycle from 7% to 34% over the last 7 years, we need to reach 50% in the next 4 years. Information obtained from this project will shape the development of the recycling and composting service to ensure we can reach our targets. It is another step forward towards our aim of zero waste to landfill. This makes sense, both financially and in protecting our environment.”