Compulsory recycling trial north of Goldhawk Road
From 1st October 2007
From 1st October 2007, it is compulsory for all Hammersmith & Fulham residents in street properties, north of the Goldhawk Road, to recycle using the orange smart sack service. If you do not put relevant recyclables in your orange smart sacks, you may be issued (as a last resort and after a number of verbal and written warnings) with a £100 Fixed Penalty.
Map of area covered by recycling trial (pdf)
Letter delivered to residents in the area covered by the trial (pdf)
Leaflet explaining the scheme and how you should take part (pdf)
If the trial is successful, compulsory recycling will be introduced across the whole borough in 2008.
We have listed 'frequently asked questions' below, however if you need further help or information please contact the hotline on 020 8753 1100 or email compulsoryrecycling@lbhf.gov.uk
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Why introduce compulsory recycling?
A. Hammersmith & Fulham is currently recycling over 24% of its household waste. However in order to meet our recycling target of 30% by 2010, it is essential that all residents take part in our weekly recycling service.
Q. Is compulsory recycling legal?
A. Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, the Council can legally require residents to use particular containers or sacks for different waste materials. In this new scheme, the council does not allow residents to put the recyclable materials listed below in their black sacks or bins for disposal. These must instead be placed in an orange Smart Sack for recycling.
Q. What do I put in the orange sack?
A. You can include
- Paper and card - newspaper; junk mail;magazine;directories & cardboard packaging
- Glass bottles and jars of all colours (please rinse and remove lids)
- Drink cans, food tins (please rinse before recycling) and used aerosols
- Plastic bottles (please rinse and remove lids)
- Food and drink cartons and waxed cups (please rinse before recycling).
The following should not be put in the Smart Sack - Food waste; garden waste; plastic food packaging, plastic cups, margarine tubs/yogurt pots; paper towels and tissues; nappies; crisp packets, sweet wrappers, food contaminated paper and card; plastic carrier bags and polystyrene.
Q. How do I get the orange Smart Sacks?
A. Orange sacks are free and packs of 30 sacks are delivered to your door three times a year. If you need more, these can be collected from one of the designated pick up points. Call the hotline on 020 8753 1100 to find your most convenient point.
Q. How is my recycling collected?
A. Place your securely tied Smart Sacks either just inside your front garden where they can be clearly seen from the street, or on the kerbside immediately outside your property. To make sure your recycling is collected, please place your Smart Sack out before 6.30am on your collection day or after 9pm the night before. Please do not leave your sack out at any other time as you may incur a fine for unlawful dumping.
Q. What if I am physically unable to lift the recycling sack?
A. Elderly and disabled residents can get help by asking for an assisted collection. Phone the hotline on 020 8754 1100 to make these arrangements.
Q. What if I live in a flat?
A. Compulsory recycling applies to all households that have a kerbside collection of refuse and recycling. So for example, if you live in a block of flats and your waste is collected from large shared wheeled bins, compulsory recycling will not apply initially. Recycling is however important regardless of where you live, so we do encourage residents living in flats to recycle as much as they can by using the Smart Banks located on their estates. These accept exactly the same range of materials for recycling as the Smart Sacks.
Q. I heard that all materials collected for recycling go to landfill anyway. Is this true?
A. This is not true. A great deal of work goes into finding appropriate markets and destinations for recyclable materials. Occasionally some batches of recyclable materials are rejected due to contamination with other materials and have to be put into the general waste stream. Please help us to minimise contamination by only recycling the items we have requested.
Q. Can I now recycle Tetra Paks in my recycling sack?
A. You can now recycle your paper-based drinks and liquid food cartons, such as those made by Tetra Pak, in your Smart sack and Smart bank. Simply place your used paper-based milk, juice and liquid cartons in your sack or bank and we’ll do the rest. Each year, UK beverage carton manufacturers produce 55,000 tonnes of paper-based cartons for milk, juice, sauces and other liquid food/drinks. This equates to around 2.3kg of cartons per household which could be recycled instead of thrown in the rubbish bin.
In response, Hammersmith and Fulham council is working with Tetra Pak and the carton industry body ACE UK (Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment) to introduce cartons into the recycling stream and reduce the amount of waste in our bins.
Once collected, the cartons can be taken away to be baled and transported to a recycling mill. They can be recycled into a number of different products, ranging from plasterboard liner to high-strength paper bags and envelopes.
For more information, click here to visit www.tetrapakrecycling.co.uk.
Q. How will the scheme be administered / will I fined for the first time I don’t put out my orange bag?
A. We collect recycling weekly and will be closely monitoring which households are not participating. If you are found not to be taking part, a member of the recycling team will visit you to answer any questions you may have and assist you in recycling your rubbish. Only residents that persistently and deliberatley fail to recycle (and are putting out rubbish for collection) will be served with a formal legal notice and issued with a £100 fixed penalty. The following procedure will be adopted by our Enforcement Officers:
1. Yellow cards issued for first time offenders
2. Red cards issued for second time offenders, accompanied by a S46 notice,
3. Enforcement Staff to issue and enforce Fixed Penalty Notice .
4. Enforcement Staff to maintain regular patrols thereafter
