One year on from the introduction of Stratford-on-Avon District Councils new refuse and recycling scheme operated by Verdant recycling figures are increasing and its thanks to District residents for making this happen.
"This is great news for everyone who has worked so hard to make recycling a success in Stratford District and there is no doubt that this has only been achieved through the efforts of residents in the District. On behalf of the District Council, I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone whos doing their bit for the environment by recycling their household, garden and food waste and coping with the changes. It is fantastic to see the District responding so positively," says Cllr Simon Jackson, Environment Portfolio.
"Together with Verdant we've listened* to what District residents want and worked hard to provide them with what they said they wanted most a weekly collection of food waste and the opportunity to recycle more in the way of plastic and cardboard, while continuing to scan the horizon to add more materials that residents can recycle in the future.
"Reducing the amount of waste going to landfill remains a priority for the Council and I am keen that we do not rest on our laurels, but strive towards the top of the recycling table. Using a combination of doorstep recycling collections, composting and reducing waste in the first place are all ways of avoiding waste being sent to landfill. The less waste we put into our landfill bins the better, avoiding landfill tax charges plus potentially fines running into millions of pounds for the council taxpayer to pick up.
"So by backing the service and changing habits, residents are not only doing their bit for the future of the environment they are also helping the council to provide an improved value for money service and providing the opportunity of having one of the best recycling rates in the UK."
This has also been complemented with the recent Place Survey results where over 81% of residents feel satisfied with the refuse collection provided by the District Council and 78% of residents feel satisfied with the doorstep recycling.
The latest recycling figures show a recycling rate of 47% from April 2008 to March 2009. However since April 2009 when the new service was fully implemented the figures are more likely to reach a consistent 60% recycling rate for 2009/10, making the District Council one of the best performing Councils in the country.
The services comprises:
- the Grey Bin for general and food waste - collected every other week, with the lid down and no additional side waste;
- recyclable materials, paper, glass bottles and jars, tins including aerosols cardboard, cartons (such as Tetra Pak) and plastic bottles in the Blue Lid Bin - collected every other week and
- the Green Bin for green garden waste and food waste - collected every other week.
The changes to the Refuse and Recycling Service in August 2008 had not been experienced in the District since 1994. In the first week more than 106,000 collections were made from over 53,000 properties across the District, which covers 97,787 hectares (one of the largest rural districts in the Country) and received less than 1% complaints of missed bin collections.
The Council's Corporate Strategy sets out how it will lead the District forward, improving quality of life locally so that by 2012 Stratford-on-Avon is one of the top ten places to live in the country. Aim 1 is A District where everyone shares in an improved quality of life with an outcome of *Residents feel able to influence decisions.
