News
Herts build on recycling efforts
Thanks to expanded recycling services and the efforts of residents, a third of Hertfordshire’s rubbish was recycled last year, saving over 178,000 tonnes of waste – four times the weight of the Titanic – from going to landfill or incineration.
This item was added on 8th August 1006
The latest figure – 33% - is equivalent to nine million wheelie bin collections saved across Hertfordshire during the last year. It has increased from 22% just two years ago and exceeds the Government-set current target of 30%.
'All the residents who use the kerbside collections, local recycling banks and the Household Waste Recycling Centres have helped the Hertfordshire Waste Partnership to achieve this remarkable result,' said Derrick Ashley, Executive Member for Planning, Partnerships and Waste. 'However, while this is excellent progress, there are still challenges ahead and we still need to do more.'
'Hertfordshire has a target of 50% recycling by 2012, which means that the development of waste management services will need to continue over the coming years. We also need to continue to encourage residents to use the recycling services, while minimising the amount of waste they generate.'
This latest increase in recycling has been helped by a contribution of £5.4 million given to Hertfordshire’s eleven local authorities by DEFRA, in addition to local funding. Most of this funding has been used to increase garden and organic waste collections, glass collections and recycling at flats (communal). The following containers and vehicles have been purchased:
- 180,000 wheeled bins
- 21 collection vehicles
- 80,000 recycling boxes
- 40,000 reusable collection sacks.
To help promote these services across the county, the WasteAware taskforce visited nearly 250,000 homes to explain to residents what can be recycled and to answer any questions on the subject.