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Crayford materials recycling facility utilises optical sortation equipment that uses NIR (Nir-Infra Red technology) to sort plastic by polymer type, which are then ejected from the mixed plastic stream. These are typically sorted into HDPE and PET bottle fractions. The remaining mixed plastic fractions are then sent for onward recycling and reprocessing. Dedicated plastic reprocessing facilities will have further optical sortation equipment to achieve full polymer sort of all plastic grades, this equipment can sort down to particles of only a few millimetres in diameter.

Those items cannot be accepted at present. As pointed out these comprise of metal and plastic that cannot easily be separated at a materials recycling facility at present. Viridor is constantly looking to expand the list of recyclable materials that can be accepted at its facilities so as technology develops, those and other type of materials may be accepted for recycling.

We often get asked whether we sell water butts. We don't, but Severn Trent do; telephone 08708 49 4 851 for details or see their website www.stwater.co.uk for details.

Leicestershire County Council, in partnership with Blaby District Council operate a paint resuse scheme from Whetstone Recycling and Household Waste Site. Paints that are partially dry or mixed with other paints cannot be reused; gloss paints cannot be accepted due to the flammability of these products. Only clean, water based paint can be accepted.

All of Leicestershire's Household Waste Sites, commonly known as tips are licensed to accept paint for disposal. The paint however, must be completely dried. This allows the site to dispose of any paint, gloss or otherwise, that members of the public bring to the site.

For further information about anything to do with Leicestershire's household waste sites please contact the County Council on 0116 305 0001, or visit www.leics.gov.uk/index/environment

There is a value to recycling, as it can be sold onto manufacturers to be made into new things.  Any income generated from selling the recycling is put back into the service provided, so helping to keep Council Tax to a minimum.  

Under the previous contract, the Council were paid a fixed, low rate for the recycling.  Whilst this gave security through a guaranteed income when the value of recycling was low, it didn't take into account times when the value was higher.  

The new contract for the sale of recycling to Viridor has a fluctuating value associated with the materials, so that when the market value is high, the Council get more money for the materials, and when the value is low, we get less.  For security, there is a minimum value built into the contract, to ensure that we always get a reasonable payment for the materials.

This contract with Viridor also requires them to provide, at their expense, a transfer facility so that the Council is only required to travel to Mountsorrel to tip the waste collected.  Under the previous contract, each vehicle had to travel to Coalville two or three times a day to tip.  This change represents a big saving in terms of fuel (both financial and environmental savings) and time.

The cost of introducing green bins has been met by Serco, the Council's waste collection contractor.  These represent a long-term investment with a one-off payment for bins, which is more cost effective over time than the continual supply of recycling bags.

Plastic film such as supermarket carrier bags and LDPE sacks from commingled collection rounds are removed at the front end of the process. The Crayford facility utilises bag splitters, that have a rotating ripping drum that splits the bags and empties the contents. The film is then removed manually from the remainder of the recyclable stream.

The recycling is sorted by Viridor at their plant in Kent, using machinery.  To view films of this process, please follow this link to You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DAk8m7sVM4

For example a band D property in Charnwood charge is £1208.98 for 2006. This raises very high expectations of the refuse and recycling service which actually costs each household only £47.09. Most of the remainder (nearly £900) goes to Leicestershire County Council for Education, Social Services, and Highways. About £170 goes to the Emergency Services, and the Parish and Town Councils take an average of £40. We are always striving to deliver value for money but please don’t think of it as costing you £1000 or more for refuse and recycling, it doesn’t.

A Project Board was set up to ensure the process ran smoothly. A Market Workshop was then held for potential bidders, to give them more information on which to base their decision to tender. Reference Panels were also set up: one for Members, and one for the Community. These panels were led by an independent facilitator, and sought to get information about the priorities for the contract. A thorough short-listing process was undertaken by professionals in Environmental Services, alongside independent evaluation by Environmental Consultants. Site visits were made to contracts run by each of the shortlisted bidders, followed by clarification presentations. Each of these companies were scored against a number of criteria, and the highest scoring bidder put forward to Cabinet for approval.

Schools will be affected in the same way as domestic properties, by switching first to a single recycling sack in August 2009, then to a wheelie bin for recycling in 2010/11. No glass is currently collected from schools, and it isn’t anticipated that this will change.

The University will also switch to a single recycling sack in August 2009, then to bins (either wheelie or Eurobins) for recycling in 2010/11.

If we've missed your bin, we aim to revisit your house within one working day. If you notify us before 12noon on the day of collection we will normally return the same day.

The bags are 'compacted' so that we can get more of them in the lorry before it is full. The vast majority of the bags remain intact. 

Unfortunately, Charnwood Borough Council do not operate a trade waste collection service.  You need to ring a commercial waste contractor and arrange a contract.

We recommend that uncooked food waste, such as vegetable peelings, tea bags and egg shells, should be placed in a home composter. Cooked food waste, such as left-overs can be placed in a food digester. For current offers and further information on home composters, and cooked food waste digesters, call the County Council on 0116 305 7005, or click here.

You will get some delivered to your door every six months. If you recycle a lot and have run out before your next delivery is due, you can either call us on 01509 634563, or call into the Council's Southfield Road offices in Loughborough. In the villages, your local parish council may be able to supply small quantities to keep you going.  Alternatively, we now have purple bag and Mind bag dispensers strategically placed around the Borough, please view the list of dispensers on our website.

For terraced properties without a front garden, wheelie bins (and recyclables) should be presented for collection at an unlocked back gate (or gateway) which opens onto the alleyway.  If, the householder wishes to keep the back gate locked it should be presented on the alleyway side of that gate.  The contractor should return the wheeled bin (or box) to wherever it was presented.  If, for whatever reason, wheelie bins end up on the street they should be returned to the back garden as soon as possible after collection.

Quite possibly. The volume of waste is not static – it is ever increasing throughout the economic cycle. Legislation linked to the use of landfill is likely to get more demanding and all Councils will probably be called upon to reduce the use of landfill.

One requirement of the contract with our pratners Serco is that it reduces the current carbon emissions of the service. Serco are aiming to reduce carbon emissions by 40%, by re-routing the collection rounds, and using vehicles powered by bio-diesel.  This is in addition to the substantial amounts of energy that is being saved by recycling valuable materials such as plastic, aluminium and steel.  As well as reducing our emmission of greenhouse gases by composting organic garden waste.

Charnwood Borough Council undertook a competitive tender process to find out the most efficient and cost-effective solution for the processing of recyclables collected across the borough. After the council’s comprehensive assessment, Viridor's tender successfully met the council’s criteria and proved to be the preferred option.

The Crayford MRF facility is located in close proximity to a number of its reprocessing partners, so although the front end movement of material from Charnwood to Crayford may be seen as a long journey, the movement from Crayford to the next stage of reprocessing is in many cases reduced. An example of this is that Viridor trades with Aylesford Newsprint Ltd, a large recyclable newsprint mill in Kent, which is only approximately 20 miles from the Crayford facility.

No cleaning is completed at Crayford of the recyclable commodities. Crayford is the first stage of the reprocessing process, sorting the recyclable materials into individual grades. Materials are then baled and sent to dedicated reprocessors per material stream. These reprocessing facilities will often employ washing and drying facilities into their processes to de-label and remove contamination of products.

The new contract is worth £32 million, and will generate savings of £2.4 million for the Council in the first two years. These savings can be used to enable investment in other services, and to keep costs down for residents.

From 1^st August 2009, the red and green recycling bags will be phased out, and replaced by a single recycling sack, which will be used in conjunction with the existing green box for glass. None of the materials that can be recycled will be changed. This should make it easier for residents to recycle.

In 2011/12, wheelie bins will be used to collect recycling, which will make recycling easier, tidier, and no longer susceptible to animals ripping open bags. They will also make it safer for the collection crews to handle.

Anyone in this situation should contact us for advice on how to reduce the amount of waste they are producing. Any waste left at the side of the bin, will not be taken.  In addition, if your bin lid is not completely closed, your bin will not be emptied. If you have excess waste due to a clear out etc. you could take the waste to your local household waste site; commonly known as the tip.  Or, donate good quality goods to a charity shop.

The recycling is taken to a materials recycling facility (MRF), currently based in Coalville. There it is hand sorted and separated into its respective materials.  The MRF then sells the material to merchants all over the country, where it is recycled into various products.

All sites are open seven days a week, 8am-8pm (April-October) and 8am-6pm (November-March)

In order to check how the materials you recycle are being treated please click on the follow links for each type of material:

Plastic

Metal

Glass

Paper

It will not be collected as we can only sort and recycle those items that are listed on the outside of the bag. Contaminated bags will have to be re-sorted by the householder before collection.

• Collecting refuse and recycling from the kerbside of properties
• Cleaning the streets
• Emptying litter bins
• Collecting bulky household waste, such as old furniture
• Increasing the amount of bulky waste diverted from landfill through re-use
• Collecting garden waste from properties subscribing to the service.

The glass collected in the green box is first taken to a materials recycling facility currently based in Coalville.  From there it is taken by road to a re-processor, where it is washed, crushed and placed into a furnace to be melted down. The recycled glass is most often used to make new glass bottles. This process can take as little as an hour before a new bottle is created! Did you know recycling one glass bottle or jar saves enough energy to power your TV for one and a half hours?

We're really sorry, but this bit on the leaflet is incorrect.  The recycling is no longer hand sorted, but sorted mechanically, so there is no risk to people because of sharp pieces of glass.  However, it is still important that needles are not put in the recycling collection - a special clinical collection should be arranged.

Charnwood Borough Council are not obliged to provide these services for free . All the other Councils in Leicestershire charge for bulky waste collections, Charnwood being the last one to introduce a charge.

All residential collections start at 7am, but sometimes drivers have to take a different route.

By waiting until 2010/11, it gives plenty of time to ensure the correct systems are in place before the collections change. It ensures that there is adequate planning opportunity, so that the transition to the new service runs smoothly.

In addition to this, the refuse and recycling collection vehicles are leased from another company, and these leases run out in 2010/11. The current recycling vehicles don’t have a lifting mechanism on them to lift a recycling wheelie bin, but in 2010/11, when new vehicles are leased, they will be required to have a lifting mechanism. It would be too costly to terminate the existing vehicle leases before they end in 2010/11.