Biffa Boosts Melton Recycling Rate with Comingled Collections

05 September 2012 Melton Borough Council in the East Midlands has seen a 20% in recycling over the past four months, following its decision to switch to a comingled recycling collection service. According to municipal services contractor Biffa, it worked closely with the council to design and implement the new recycling and Green Waste Club schemes, the first major service change since the company introduced Melton's twin bin and kerbside sort service in 2005. In the four months from April a to July 31 this year, Melton's new service captured 1840 tonnes of recycling, 20% up on the 1539 tonnes collected in the equivalent period last year. Additionally, Biffa said that the waste sent to landfill also fell by 6% from 3538 tonnes in April-July 2011 to 3323 tonnes for the same period in 2012. Raman Selvon, the council's lead waste management officer, said: "We're very pleased and encouraged by these early results. They clearly show residents have adapted to what were quite radical waste service changes and are driving up recycling rates." Source separated v comingled Historically Melton Borough Council has been one of England's top local authorities for kerbside-sorted recycling. However, according to Biffa it chose to change its recycling collection system by launching a fully commingled dry recycling service, mainly to reduce operating costs and to divert more materials from landfill. The council is said to believe that the new service will reduce contract costs by around 5% annually. Some 49,000 residents in 22,000 properties across the borough now use a wheeled bin to collect an expanded range of dry recyclables, such as paper, cardboard, mixed plastics, glass and metals, while a second wheeled bin is used for residual waste. Melton also switched its previously-free garden waste collection service to Biffa's subscription-based Green Waste Club. The Club now has almost 7000 customers, double the initial anticipated take-up. "Many people either don't have gardens or have very small green areas," explained Pete Dickson, Biffa's development director. "Yet historically, they have had to pay for green waste collections through their council tax. The Green Waste Club is a much fairer way of ensuring that only those who want the service pay for it." According to Dickinson, local authorities must be allowed to choose the collection system that suits them best. "For several years, kerbside-sort worked very well for Melton, but cost and performance pressures meant the council had to consider change," he added. Read More Source Separated Collections to be Mandatory in England & Wales Under recent amendments to the Waste (England & Wales) Regulations 2011, from 2015 collection authorities will be required to arrange for the separate collection of recyclable materials such as paper, plastics, metals and glass, where separate collection is necessary to ensure waste undergoes recovery. Retrofit Plastic Strapping System for RDF Piloted at Biffa Recycling Plant Middletons Engineering has developed a RDF plastic strapping solution to retrofit Biffa's balers - reducing gate fees at waste to energy plants. Waste to Energy & Comingled Recycling Proposed in Aberdeen Aberdeen City Council's Zero Waste Management Sub-committee has heard new options for collecting, recycling and disposing of the city's waste. Free Magazine Subscription Free Email Newsletter