Consumables
SLOW RECYCLING WINS THE ZERO WASTE RACE
Wednesday 21. April 2010 - A new one year pilot project in Presteigne and Norton in Wales is challenging 1,200 householders and approximately 100 businesses to move towards zero waste.
The pilot has been set up by Cwm Harry Land Trust, with support from Aylesford Newsprint, Powys County Council, members of Presteigne and Norton Town Council and Chamber of Commerce and with funding from Cylch. It aims to achieve a minimum of 70 percent recycling by focusing on localised recycling and reuse activities and challenging social norms.
The first stage of the project focuses on households and businesses, whilst the second focuses on levering manufacturers to produce products which can be easily reused or recycled by consumers.
The concept of Slow Recycling underpins the pilot’s operations. Slow Recycling is an intense version of a regular kerbside sort, involving a milkman style recycler working with just 250 properties a day. The process is more thorough than traditional methods and produces excellent recyclate quality and above average recycling rates. Using this method, more time is available to work with less confident households to maximise their recycling. The enhanced service also encourages higher participation and engagement, requiring community members to think more carefully about their waste and their actions.
The scheme allows Presteigne and Norton householders to donate a percentage of the value of their recyclate to local charities and causes. The Cwm Harry Land Trust will also be running a series of events over the year to raise householder awareness about reusing and recycling materials and better purchasing.
Food waste from Presteigne and Norton is already collected by Cwm Harry Land Trust on behalf of Powys County Council and is transformed into electricity by anaerobic digestion. In April, the Trust will take over the whole refuse and recycling service from the Council during the year of the project, including dry recycling.
Kent-based newsprint manufacturer Aylesford Newsprint has supported the project from the outset. Aylesford Newsprint reprocesses newspapers and magazines to create newsprint that meets the quality requirements of many of Europes top publishing houses. A higher quality of recovered paper equals a higher quality of manufactured produce from the recovered materials. This has a positive impact on the entire waste process, making the end product more desirable and generating better yields.
Dave Moore, Aylesford Newsprint Recycling Area Manager, said: “Aylesford Newsprint is pleased to support the Presteigne Zero Waste pilot which encourages a more sustainable approach to recycling. The future of zero waste depends upon better sorting and collection methods as well as challenging attitudes towards waste and recycling.”
The scheme uses the County Council’s standard issue recycling boxes to collect the dry recyclables and plastic sacks for remaining refuse. This increases the feasibility of the pilot being replicated or scaled up across Wales and the UK. The Welsh Assembly Governments draft waste strategy, Towards Zero Waste, is the strategic framework for the pilot. The strategy requires innovative pilots such as this to demonstrate what zero waste means in practice for local communities such as Presteigne.
David Clarke, Cwm Harry Land Trust Operations Manager, said: “This project encourages people to open their minds to new ideas about waste management. Consumption habits are a huge obstacle to zero waste that Cwm Harry Land Trust aims to remove by promoting different lifestyle choices, awareness and education. As a keen advocate of quality standards and environmental charities, Aylesford Newsprint has a good understanding of what we are trying to achieve and the challenges we face. Their support and experience is a valuable addition to the project.”