Action Briefing Dec 2003-Jan 2004
	The Newsletter of Birmingham Friends of the Earth

West Midlands News

Recycling in Telford

The decision by Telford Council to extend the biweekly collection of recyclables and domestic rubbish to all homes was trumpeted as a major step forward, but, given the requirement by national government to cut back the amount of waste going to landfill and the previously poor recycling and composting performance of Shropshire councils, such action was inevitable.

It is because of this poor recycling record that we now face the plan for additional landfill capacity at Redhill on the edge of Telford. Telford Friends of the Earth appeals to local people to work positively with the new alternate week collection.

The Council must in particular cut back the landfill of biodegradable waste, such as kitchen and garden waste, paper and cardboard. The trial scheme proved that the biweekly collection was much more effective than alternating recyclables with weekly domestic rubbish collection.

The study by Enviros found that for the biweekly collection scheme there was significantly more green waste and dry recyclable waste collected per household with less residual waste. There was also a higher participation rate in the recyclables collection. Households with the weekly residual waste collection were putting out nearly 40% more residual waste! This showed the practical encouragement to recycle of the biweekly collection.

There was no detrimental impact of an alternate collection system upon the nearby Community Recycling Centre suggesting few people resorted to taking their residual waste for landfill. This approach will therefore also help minimise the cost of providing a waste collection service.

We call on the good people of Telford & Wrekin to rise to the challenge and exceed the expectations of the Council. If we do not get our recycling act together we shall face the possibility of an incinerator of some kind. The people of Kidderminster recently rose up and successfully defeated just such a threat from a polluting and destructive ‘beast’.

Local people deserve a much more healthy, productive and job creating approach to dealing with waste - a valuable resource.

Robert Saunders, Telford Friends of the Earth