Why Are We Trialing A New Recycling Scheme
The new scheme is being trialed for several different reasons and benefits to both the Council and the residents.
- The cost of the current Crown scheme is significantly higher than providing a weekly refuse collection as it requires an additional lorry collecting the dry recyclable materials every other week. Wealden's current economic conditions prevent us from being able to expand the existing Crown scheme into other areas. The Wealden District covers some 323 square miles, making it considerably more expensive to extend the scheme rurally than in the existing urban areas. We therefore needed to find a solution that would enable us to meet the targets being set by Central Government to provide every household with a kerbside recycling collection of at least 2 materials by 2010. The solution being the new caddy scheme which only requires one split compartment lorry collecting the materials each week, which not only has an economical advantage but reduces the impact on the environment. If the scheme is successful we will be using it as a template to provide every household with a kerbside recycling collection. There is also the possibility that those on the existing Crown scheme will also be converted over to the caddy scheme.
- We have had several problems with blue boxes and white bags blowing away and the contents of these containers being blown across the road and into hedges etc. By introducing the caddy scheme we are therefore preventing any additional litter problems and keeping the costs down by not having to replace as many containers. It also reduces the amount of space taken up by recycling containers which is a big advantage for those residents with no access to the rear of their property and little garden space.
- Recycling targets are always increasing including targets to reduce the amount of waste we produce. The new caddy scheme therefore reduces the amount of waste we are collecting to try to encourage people to think more about what they but and throw away. It also encourages home composting by providing the home compost bin free of charge and the Green Johanna food digester for £15. By home composting residents can reduce the amount of waste going in to the waste stream by up to 30%.
