Stratford District Council’s recycling scheme extended

Stratford-on-Avon District Council is extending the recycling scheme it offers to residents in the District by now including softer plastics from 1st December.

Recycling rates have reached a record 63% with now over half of the District household waste being recycled, re-used or composted, compared to 47% previously.  The rise is due to the District Council's new refuse and recycling service and the introduction of the blue-lidded recycling bins, which is now being extended further.

"Stratford-on-Avon District Council is already one of the top performing Councils for recycling but by extending the present recycling service we want to improve this further and we know this will be widely welcomed by District residents. Extending our recycling service to include other types of plastics will help us to recycle more and reduce the amount of waste going to landfill, which is good news all round," says Cllr Simon Jackson, Environment Portfolio.

"Our recycling figures are really encouraging and it demonstrates that people are really taking the recycling message on board, and taking positive action to help us in our continuing quest to reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfill as well as safeguarding the environment.

"We aim to reach the 65% figure next year and with further improvements to come in future years I believe the prospect of recycling 75% of our waste could well be within reach. I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone in the District who has contributed to the success so far. If they continue to make such an excellent effort, we can achieve even greater heights in the future."

The new extended service will now include:

• Clean Aluminium foil
• Clean Yoghurt pots and margarine tubs
• Clean Plastic food containers
  
  But not plastic food wrapping (cling film) or carrier bags.

As part of the extended recycling scheme the District Council's Cabinet has agreed additional funding to buy a small number of additional bins to help larger households contain their recycling. The District Council has also been successful in a bid for further funding to purchase some smaller bins which will better suit the needs of already identified households.

All the recycling material collected is sent to the Pure Recycling facility at Ettington, where the District's recycling is sorted and bulked for onward transportation for re-use.