Residents drive Oldham’s recycling rate up

Residents drive Oldham’s recycling rate up

Residents are answering the call to go green and help boost the borough’s recycling rates.

A year on from introducing new kerbside collection arrangements the amount of waste being recycled across the borough is now up to 46 per cent.

Since the changes started in October 2016, residents have stopped 4,150 tonnes of rubbish going in grey bins – meaning the council has avoiding nearly £1.4m in disposal costs. 

To date, the council is on course to avoid as much as £3m in disposal costs - which currently cost more than £300 per tonne - over the next few years.

The eight per cent increase in recycling rates seen in the last year is also helping to reach the overall target of achieving a 12 per cent increase over the next few years.

More than 56,000 orders have been placed for new, or bigger, recycling bins between July last year and June 2017.

Since the new collections were implemented the tonnages of general rubbish being sent for disposal has decreased when compared with the same month in any previous year.

Recycling tonnages for food and garden waste - as well as glass, cans and jars - are the highest ever recorded when compared with the same month in any previous year.

Councillor Barbara Brownridge, cabinet member for Neighbours and Co-operatives, said: “We did not expect it to be easy to make changes to the collection arrangements, but residents have really got on board with them

“They understood why the changes had to be made and the vast majority of people have adopted them as the ‘norm’, which is to their credit.

“Although these figures are a big leap forward we can all do more - less waste and greater recycling will mean we can save on massive cost increases in waste disposal.”

Over the coming weeks all households will be receiving a new collection calendar.  Collection days will not change, they are just replacements for the old calendars which run out in November.

They include a reminder that food waste and aerosols can be recycled – the two main items some residents are still putting in their grey bins.