Vale residents praised for 54% recycling rate

 

Published 14 February 2012

 

Vale of Glamorgan residents now recycle, compost and reuse an impressive 54.48% of their waste, according to results for October, November and December 2011. This figure is up by 11% when compared to the same period the previous year.

 

Photo: Cabinet Member for Visible and Building Services with members of Cowbridge Gymnastics Club, Sian Cox, Georgia Savage, Jessica Savage, Mia Jenkins and Eli Peppa, jumping for joy at recycling results

The cumulative performance for the first three quarters of this financial year - from 1 April 2011 until the end of December 2011 - is now 51.11%. And with three months still to be accounted for, it is hoped that the Vale’s performance will go from strength to strength.

 

Councillor Geoffrey Cox, Cabinet Member for Visible and Building Services at the Vale of Glamorgan Council, praised residents for supporting recent changes in waste management collections. He said, “I regularly meet residents whose passion and enthusiasm for recycling is apparent. This is especially so since we moved to our popular co-mingled recycling system in September.”

 

Councillor Cox outlined more reasons for the excellent result, adding: “We always try to raise awareness by communicating effectively with our residents. For example, people have told us how much they like our behind the scenes video tour of our contractors’ recycling facility, how they can efficiently access information about our services via social media and our web pages, as well as speak to our waste team at many community events. We’re also excited to be launching our new text service this March.

 

“Vale residents also report how easy it is to leave all materials (garden, kitchen, co-mingled and black bag waste) out kerbside on the same day of the week. Evidently our residents are responding positively to reducing, reusing and recycling even more. I thank everyone involved for their efforts and recognise that performance improvements have only been achieved by their hard work and goodwill.”

 

A recent survey revealed that 80% of respondents strongly agreed that co-mingling makes it easier to recycle, while 62% strongly agreed they will recycle even more now the Vale has a co-mingled service.

 

Miles Punter, Head of Visible Services at the Vale of Glamorgan Council, added, “We are overwhelmed by residents’ concerted efforts to date. When you compare this figure to the same period in 2010 our performance has improved by over 11%. This clearly demonstrates how our residents have embraced all the recent improvements in our service in just one year. Realistically the Vale of Glamorgan could hope to appear regularly in the top third of the best recycling local authorities in Wales once again.”

 

Furthermore, before Christmas, the Council announced Vale residents could recycle even more materials, with three new materials being included in weekly collections. Clean foil (uncontaminated by food and chemicals), cartons (such as those used for juice, smoothies and pet food) and emptied aerosols like air freshener, deodorant and hairspray are all being accepted along with paper, glass, cans, card and plastic. The Vale’s recycling rate for the end of this financial year should continue to grow if residents continue to divert material from their black bags on a daily basis.

 

The Welsh Government has set all local authorities the same targets for minimum levels of preparing for reuse, recycling and composting for municipal waste; failure could mean heavy fines may be imposed. By 2012/13 we all must achieve 52%; it is therefore possible that the Vale could reach this a whole year early. By 2015/16 our target will be 58%, by 2019/20 64% and by 2024/25, an ambitious 70%.

 

To find out more about the Vale’s recycling services either visit our recycling pages, email: visible@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk or telephone: 01446 700111.