The new three box recycling system, which was recently rolled out across the city, is being hailed as a success as new figures show that the new system has resulted in an increase in the amount of recycling collected.
The new system sees residents sorting their waste into three boxes before putting it out for collection. This cuts down collection times and means recycling doesn’t have to be sorted by collection crews at the side of the road before it can be put in collecting trucks.
The lids distributed with the new boxes also mean that recycling doesn’t get blown across the street on windy days, helping to keep streets cleaner and tidier.
However, as well as making recycling quicker and easier to collect, the introduction of the new system has also been followed by an increase in the amount of recycling collected by crews.
The amount of recycling collected on five different collection rounds was measured for five weeks before the introduction of the new system and five weeks after the new boxes had been delivered.
The figures gathered from the study showed an average increase of 2.7% in the amount of waste collected under the new system.
Liberal Democrat Executive Member for Neighbourhood Services, Councillor Ann Reid said the findings of the study were encouraging.
She said, “It is still early days yet as many residents are still getting used to the new system, but it is encouraging to see an increase in the amount of recycling collected.”
“Recycling rates have increased massively over the last few years, from only 12% when the Liberal Democrats took control of the Council in 2003 to more than 45% in 2008.”
“The recession led to a slight dip in the recycling rate last year as people spent less on luxury items like bottles of wine and glossy magazines, meaning less glass and paper was recycled.”
“The recycling rate is now on the increase again and these figures are an encouraging sign that the rate will continue to climb.”
Councillor Reid said that all except the most remote rural properties will have access to kerbside recycling by the end of December and that it is hoped it will be possible to make the service available to the remote rural properties by February 2011.
She said, “We are in the process of completing the rollout of kerbside recycling to areas that do not currently benefit from the service and the majority of that rollout will be complete by the end of December.”
“Giving everyone access to kerbside recycling will mean we can recycling even more and cut down further on the amount of waste we send to landfill.”
The rollout of kerbside recycling is being funded by the savings made from the increased efficiency of collection resulting from the new three box system.
If you would like to increase the amount of recycling you do, why not take a look at our range to help you do just that? A home composting system can reduce the amount of food waste going into your general waste bin.
[1] www.york.gov.uk
