Your Questions About the Recycling Service Answered
What happens to the recycling material?
It gets hand sorted at a Materials Recycling Facility and is then sold on to merchants all over the country from where it gets recycled into new products.
Can I put shredded paper in the recycling bags?
Yes, this can go in the purple bag to be recycled.
I have run out of sacks, how do I get some more?
You will get some more 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 Southfields offices. In the villages, your local Parish Council may be able to supply small quantities to keep you going, see the link on our website.
What hours is the tip open?
All sites are open seven days a week, 8am-8pm (April-October) and 8am-6pm (November-March)
I've seen the purple sacks being thrown into the back of a lorry and crushed. Why?
The bags are 'compacted' so that we can get more of them in the lorry before it is full. The material is then sorted further along in the process.
How much does the recycling and refuse service cost as my Council Tax rates are high?
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.
I am not able to put vegetable peelings and organic kitchen waste etc into the Brown Garden Waste bin, so where can these go?
Into a Compost Bin which can be obtained from Leicestershire Waste Partnership who currently have an offer on two different sized bins to keep in your garden. Call 0845 0732001 or order online at http://www.recyclenow.com/compost/.
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Details on composting bins including order form.
Where does the glass end up, that we put in the box for collection?
The kerb side collection of glass is taken to a re-processor, where it is crushed, sorted through magnets and then placed into a furnace to be melted down into new glass. This process can take as little as an hour before it is a new bottle again! Did you know recycling one glass bottle or jar saves enough energy to power your TV for one and a half hours?
What do we do if we can't fit all our rubbish into the black bin, as the bin lid now has to be completely closed?
Any waste left at the side of the bin, or bags that are causing the lid to be open will not be taken. If you have excess waste due to a clear out etc. you can take the waste to your local Household waste site.
Why do CBC charge for bulky collections and garden wheelie bins when other councils do not?
We are not obliged to provide these services for free as a Council. All the other Councils in Leicestershire charge for bulky waste collections, Charnwood being the last one to introduce a charge.
What will happen if non recyclable rubbish is found in my purple sack or box for glass?
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.
I am a business how do I dispose of my waste?
You need to ring any of the commercial waste contractors and arrange a contract.
Why do I have to put rubbish out by 7am?
Because the collection starts at 7am the drivers do not always follow the same route.
If you miss my bin, when will you come back to collect it?
We aim to revisit your house if we’ve missed your bin within one working day. If calls are received by 12noon we will normally return the same day.
I understand that we have to reach 36% household recycling by 2006, but will we have to have a new system to meet even higher targets by 2010 and beyond?
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.
I live in a terraced property where should I present my wheelie bin & recycling box/bags?
For terraced properties with no front gardens 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 collect.
Frequently Asked Questions (13)
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.
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
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.
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 1st 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.
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.
In 2010/11, wheelie bins will be used to collect recycling.
Charnwood Borough Council is a forward-looking authority aiming to increase recycling, and reduce waste being sent to landfill sites. Much work is being done nationally to encourage manufacturers to reduce the amount of packaging around products, as shown year on year by the reduction in Easter egg packaging. There are also trials being run across the country to investigate removing food waste from the landfill waste stream, and treating it separately.
As such, and alongside the comprehensive recycling service available to residents in Charnwood, the capacity for landfill waste will reduce year on year, meaning that a smaller bin will be sufficient for average households. It is anticipated that this will be introduced in 2011, along with the wheelie bin for recycling. Of course, larger households or those with special circumstances may require more capacity, and this will be taken into consideration when allocating wheelie bins.
It’s important to reduce the amount of waste being sent to landfill sites, as it’s a very expensive way of dealing with waste, and it can be harmful to our environment. If the amount of waste being sent to landfill isn’t reduced by specific levels by 2013, authorities will face significant fines, which will have an impact on the tax payer. By introducing a smaller landfill waste bin, it will encourage residents to think carefully about how much waste they produce.
Last updated: Wed 9th November, 2011 @ 13:36
