Help minimise levels of contamination in recycling

Recycling levels in Stratford-on-Avon district are one of the highest in the country* and thanks to residents' efforts Warwickshire has been the country's most improved Shire Local Authority for recycling for the past two years.

As recycling levels continue to rise in the district, Stratford-on-Avon District Council would like to remind residents about what can be recycled and what can't, to help reduce any contamination in collections

Contamination is caused by non-recyclable items ending up in blue-lidded recycling bins. These items include:

• Food waste - should be put in your green-lidded bin either loose, in a compostable bag or wrapped in newspaper. Although food waste can also go in your grey, we would encourage residents to put in it the Green-lidded bin so it is composted and does not end up in landfill.
• Garden waste - which should be put in your green-lidded bin or can be taken to one of the County Council's Household Waste and Recycling Centres at Burton Farm Stratford, Wellesbourne, Shipston or Stockton.
• Disposable nappies - should go in your grey refuse bin
• Hard plastic items that are not packaging - e.g. toys, coat hangers, plant pots. If at all possible, these should be given a new life through donation to charity such as St Michaels Hospice shop at Burton Farm Household Waste and Recycling Centre. If they really are beyond reuse, they should be put in your grey refuse bin.
• Plastic bags - can be reused, returned to a number of supermarkets / shops or as a last resort can be put in your grey refuse bin.
• Polystyrene / film wrap­ - Other plastic such as polystyrene and film wrap (such as cling film) should be put in your grey refuse bin.
• Electrical items - such as radios, toasters and irons that cannot be reused should be disposed of at one of the County Council's Household Waste and Recycling Centres at Burton Farm Stratford, Wellesbourne, Shipston or Stockton.
• Clothes and shoes – If at all possible these too should be given a new lease of life by being donated, sold at a car boot or put in out of the textiles / shoe recycling banks in the district.

Councillor Mike Brain, Technical Services Portfolio says: “We really appreciate the efforts of our residents in separating materials for recycling. It is really important that we minimise the contamination of recyclable materials to ensure everything that is sent for recycling is recycled. Depending on the level and type of contamination, it could result in a whole vehicle load being rejected and then sent to landfill, something none of us want. This means that perfectly good recycling could go to waste and undermines people's efforts of separating out their waste for recycling. It also means it costs more and our recycling rate could decrease.

“The biggest issue facing the facility at Ettington is dealing with material that has been put into plastic bags or black bin liners. Even though much of this material is recyclable, it is often rejected and is not recycled, therefore it is really important that residents remember to put items into their blue-lidded wheeled bin loose and not in to bags.

“By continuing to work together we will be able to increase the combined recycling/composting rate of household waste beyond the 60% mark. Currently, we recycle or compost 58.6% of all household waste in the district and are in the top 5 Councils in the country."

All of the recycling collected in the district is taken to a state-of-the-art comingled recycling facility in Ettington operated by Pure Recycling where it is sorted and any contaminated items are removed and sent to produce Energy from Waste. Non-recyclable items make up 5% of all the material that is collected in the district from blue-lidded recycling bins.

More information on this and ideas on ways to reuse items that you no longer need can be found at www.stratford-dc.gov.uk

*Top performing Councils (2009/10): Stratford-Upon-Avon – 5^th with 58.6%.
Figures verified by the government's waste database wastedataflow, the Environment Agency and DEFRA before being officially published in November 2010. Ref: www.letsreycle.com

5.35% contamination level based on gravimetric sample testing from May 2011.