Recycling rate rises
Wednesday January 25, 2012
An innovative project in Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) has helped recycling in some parts of the borough rise dramatically.
Between July and October, residents living in selected blocks of flats in the borough were encouraged to change the way they recycled their household waste. Hammersmith & Fulham Council introduced new recycling chutes and delivered re-useable bags to residents’ homes that they can use to carry recycling to and from new Smart Banks outside their flats.
Smart Banks were installed at 18 new locations, where previously there were limited recycling facilities or none at all, and about 20,000 properties were visited by recycling experts, who offered advice and gave out the reusable bags.
The council measured the amount of waste collected from 528 households out of 1,470, who used the recycling chutes, both before and after the changes (in July and again in October).
The results show that the amount of waste being recycled via the new chutes jumped from around nine tons in July to 19 tons by the middle of October – rising by an incredible 111 per cent. The figures also reveal an estimated annual increase of 137 per cent in the amount of waste being recycled, in locations where new Smart Banks were put in place.
H&F council cabinet member for residents’ services, Cllr Greg Smith, said: “The price of throwing rubbish away continues to rise and the best way that residents can help us keep costs down is to recycle more.
”We’re already seeing real improvements with these new recycling options in flats, and we need residents to keep making a concerted effort to recycle more and keep up the good work.”
Flats make up around 70 per cent of properties in H&F but the recycling rate for flats across London is estimated at just 10 per cent. The flats where the changes have been introduced include blocks in the Edward Woods, Queen Caroline and William Church estates, as well as Flora Gardens and Emlyn Gardens.
In total, the improvements mean residents from these, and other properties, are already on their way to helping H&F Council save an extra £21,000 annually by recycling rather than throwing rubbish away. From April it will cost £138 to dispose of just over a ton of waste, compared to £77.50 for just over a ton for recycling.
By the end of this financial year, 2011/12, residents across the borough will have helped save the council an estimated £818,000 by recycling using their orange smart sacks or smart banks.
In a separate push to boost recycling rates, the council has installed recycling mini-banks on the landings of 500 flats in Cobbs Hall, Boxmoore House, Horton House, Linacre House and Verulam House, and Cheeseman’s Terrace.
The mini-banks make it easier for residents to dispose of their recycling, especially as the majority of the banks are located next to normal refuse chutes on each flat floor.
For more information on recycling in flats, visit www.lbhf.gov.uk/flatsrecycling. For more information about all aspects of recycling, visit www.lbhf.gov.uk/recycling, call the Cleaner, Greener Hotline on 020 8753 1100 between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday, or email Cleaner.Greener@lbhf.gov.uk.
