NowRecycle Blog

South Ayrshire implements new system for uplifting household waste.

From February 2004 a new system for the collection of household waste will be phased in across South Ayrshire.

Why is this being done? The simple answer is that the European Union Landfill Directive requires a reduction of the amount of waste that is being disposed of by landfill, and the only way to achieve this is to radically change the way waste is disposed of.

Funds received from the Scottish Executive’s Strategic Waste Fund are being used to finance the implementation of new systems for collecting waste, the total amount of funding received is £19.623 million up to the year 2020.

The three Ayrshire Councils, Dumfries and Galloway Council, and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) have developed an Area Waste Plan. In line with European legislation the Plan outlines ways to meet the challenge of reducing the amount of waste that is disposed of in landfill sites, from the current 95%, to less than 50% by 2020.

South Ayrshire Council aims to achieve this objective by introducing what is termed the ‘3 bin system’ for household waste. In addition it is proposed to offer a service to householders that will enable them to have used glass uplifted from the kerbside outside their home using a plastic box.

Speaking about the new household waste collection system, Leader of South Ayrshire Council, Councillor Andy Hill said: “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - that is the only way forward for the people of South Ayrshire, everyone has to get their household waste sorted.

“The government has made it quite clear that every Council, including South Ayrshire, has to change the way it deals with waste. Currently 92% of the waste collected by this Council goes to landfill sites. The system is being phased in across South Ayrshire in order to make the transition from one collection system to another as smooth as possible.”

Household Waste - “The 3 Bin System” - An explanation

Each householder with a wheeled bin will receive a blue bin and those with a garden will receive a brown bin. These will be 240 litre capacity, as supplied by Plastic Omnium Urban Systems. A black box will also be provided to each household.

The current green bin is for general domestic refuse.
The blue bin is for papers, magazines, cans, cardboard and plastic bottles.
The brown bin is for organic garden waste.
The black box is for glass bottles and jars.

The contents of the blue bin will be processed at a materials recycling facility and the wastes passed on for recycling.

The contents of the brown bin will be processed at a centralised composting facility and the compost utilised for landscaping, derelict land re-development, agriculture, or for sale.

The housing stock in South Ayrshire also lends itself to a wheeled bin type of
recycling service and it is estimated that over 90% of houses will be able to accommodate the system. For those remaining, 10% of houses, an alternative type of kerbside recycling service will be offered, e.g. survival bags, a box collection or other appropriate method.

3 Bin System - Brown Bin 

The brown bin is very different from the green and blue bins, but why?
This bin, Plastic Omnium’s Citybac Bio, is the one in which householders should place all biodegradable waste, such as grass cuttings, hedge trimmings, leaves, and cut flowers.

When all the biodegradable waste rots down it provides compost that can be placed back onto the land to act as a feed and a mulch. To obtain the best quality compost the conditions have to be right, and that is why South Ayrshire Council has selected this particular design of bin.

The brown bin has holes for aeration in the sides. This allows sufficient oxygen to interact with the contents of the bin, and aids the start of the composting process. There is a grid at the bottom of the bin that allows any water to drain down the inside of the bin. Finally the top is ventilated to allow water vapour to evaporate and preventing the loss of waste volume.
The design of the brown bin means that waste placed in it can start composting down even before it leaves the residents’ property. In fact, Plastic Omnium’s Citybac Bio reduces mass by more than 25%.

Another benefit of this bin is that the aeration holes provide an environment conducive to the development of a good compost.
 
Rolling out the bins
Residents of Troon, Dundonald, Symington, Monkton, Tarbolton and Loans will be the first people to take part in the new system in February 2004. It is anticipated that all householders in South Ayrshire will have their waste collected under the new system by March 2005.
The phased rollout programme will commence in the north area of the Council and work gradually towards the south area. Each phase involves incorporating two existing domestic collection routes - approximately 10,000 properties.

Douglas Gardiner, Councillor John Knapp, Councillor James Carmichael.

From this spring, people living in East Ayrshire will be able to start recycling from home with the introduction of a new kerbside recycling system. This new initiative will be phased in from April 2004 and all households in East Ayrshire will be included in the new service by autumn 2005.

Following the largest consumer waste survey ever conducted in Scotland, East Ayrshire Council has devised a new system for collecting waste which will allow householders to recycle paper, cardboard, glass and cans, as well as organic garden waste, using a three bin & kerbside box collection system.

This new system will also help the Council to meet the ambitious targets aimed at reducing the amount of rubbish going to landfill sites, which have been demanded by both the European Union and our own Government.

The new system will mean that in addition to the existing wheeled bin, which in future is to be used for waste that cannot be recycled, a blue bin will also be supplied for paper and cardboard. Households which produce garden waste will also be supplied with a brown bin, which has been specially designed for the collection of biodegradable waste. Every household will also receive a black box, which can be stored indoors or out, to collect glass bottles and jars along with steel and aluminium cans and this will be collected every fortnight.

As extra bins and boxes are delivered, residents will receive a guide, which will explain the new system of waste collection, as well as a calendar detailing
collection dates and times.

It has also been recognized that there are some households that will not be able to store the additional two bins, such as some flats or terraced houses, but alternative arrangements are being put in place so that these households can also recycle their waste. With paper and card making up 34% of household waste in East Ayrshire and glass accounting for another 9%, there is now plenty of scope for recycling from home and the new scheme leaves no excuse for not recycling a large proportion of household waste.

For more product information please click here

Plymouth College of Further Education has opened its own recycling centre after securing £82,000 in funding.  The waste separation unit went into operation after the College secured a grant from Plymouth City Council’s Landfill Tax Credit Scheme.

A newly implemented system of waste bins in each office has enabled the collection, sorting and shredding of waste paper. Both Plastic Omnium’s Burocity, a deskside bin offering an overall capacity of 30 litres with two separate recycling compartments for the collection of recyclable paper and other kinds of waste, as well as So-Secure, for the containment of confidential waste and complementing any confidential shredding or recycling collection operation, were selected for this scheme. Other recycling methods include the disposal of toner and printer cartridges and the shredding of floral waste from floristry courses to use as compost on gardens around the Kings Road site.

The College also has a computer recycling centre, solar powered bus shelters and facilities to re-use cooking oil as vehicle fuel.

Gilbert Snook, Head of Estates, said: “These initiatives, along with others yet to come on line, mean the College will be making a reduction in volume of
approximately 75% to landfill, with a financial saving of around £10,000.”

East Dorset District Council is launching a new compostable waste collection service in March 2004. The new initiative, called the Brown Bin Scheme, will enable 5,000 households in Verwood to dispose of their food waste, thin cardboard and small amounts of green garden waste in a way that will benefit the environment.

The 120 litre brown bins, as supplied and implemented by Plastic Omnium, will be emptied every week and the waste taken to a special composting plant where it will be turned into a valuable soil improver. The cost of the service in 2003/4 will be funded by a DEFRA grant (£113,500 capital and £13,700 revenue). Each house and bungalow served by the scheme will receive a brown wheelie bin and 7 litre kitchen caddie. Flats will receive a smaller (25 litre) brown bin with a lockable lid, instead of a wheelie bin. House owners will be able to request the smaller bin instead of a wheelie bin by contacting the council. Residents also have the opportunity to purchase a composter at a reduced price from the council. Each household will also receive a year’s supply of special biodegradable liners (which break down when composted) to use in their kitchen caddie. Residents will be asked to separate all of their food waste (cooked and uncooked) and place it in their kitchen caddie, which should be lined with one of the biodegradable liners. When the caddie is full, the liner will be removed, tied off and placed in the brown bin. The liners and the locking mechanisms on the kitchen caddie and smaller bin will mean that the scheme will be safe and hygienic for everyone to use. It is the food waste and thin cardboard that the Council really want to collect, as this material is currently collected in black sacks and buried in landfills where it decomposes and gives off methane (a powerful greenhouse gas). If there is room left in the brown bin after the food and cardboard has been put in it, residents will be able to put in small amounts of green garden waste. A Sorting Guide will be delivered with the new bins to explain what can and cannot be put in the brown bins. A number of roadshows are planned for the area to further inform the general public, as well as an awareness raising campaign with local First Schools, using a poster design competition. All children who produce a poster will receive a desk top mini-wheeled bin and the winner will be announced in the press one week before the scheme commences. The scheme is set to roll out across most of East Dorset District from 2004 to 2008. The next areas to be served will be the remainder of Verwood, Three Legged Cross and St. Leonards & St. Ives in October 2004. The Council’s Environmental Protection Spokesperson, Cllr. Mrs Queenie Comfort said: “We hope residents of Verwood are looking forward to this new scheme and that they will make effective use of it. The success of this scheme depends on the cooperation and participation of all those involved”. For further information about the scheme please visit the Council’s website :www.eastdorset.gov.uk/residents/recycling/brownbinscheme.htm

Overton UK have been established in the specialist outdoor cleansing industry for the past 13 years selling a wide range of products specifically to local authorities, contractors, town councils, schools, hospitals, parks and recreation areas, crematoriums and cemeteries, to name but a few. The range includes the manufacture of vacuum litter collectors, as well as the distribution of weed rippers, transporters, beach cleaners and oil filter presses.

Overton UK source 240 litre wheeled bins and street orderly barrows from Plastic Omnium Urban Systems for use in conjunction with their vacuum equipment, to offer an innovative system for litter collection. 

The 240-125-ELN pedestrian vacuum litter collector is fitted with a “Low Noise” engine, a 125mm suction hose and a 240-litre wheeled bin which weighs only 32kgs when empty.

The Street Barrow - the Overton 75mm or 125mm vacuum unit is fitted to one of two 90-litre containers. It has the facility for additional hand-tool attachments ie: mountings for a broom, shovel and an optional liner is available for use with plastic bags. The street barrow is easy to manoeuvre, with a simple push and steer action. The second container is for larger debris or can be used if the first container is full. A lockable operator box is situated at the rear of the barrow.

To date, Overton have exported Vacuum Litter Collectors to the following countries;Greece, Portugal, Australia, Germany, Sweden, Holland, Malta, Southern Ireland - introducing automated litter collection to replace time-consuming manual methods on a global scale!

For more information, visit www.overton-uk.co.uk

Elson has been recognized as the leading name in quality hot water products for the construction industry for over 80 years, as well as the UK’s No.1 manufacturer of combination hot water units and the UK’s largest manufacturer of rectangular combination hot and cold water storage systems. Products include electric systems heated by immersion heaters, electric and indirect systems, indirect systems heated by gas, oil or solid fuel.

Elson is also part of The Baxi Group, one of Europe’s leading Heating Groups with an international presence that includes France, Germany, Italy, Denmark and The UK. The Group provides a range of solutions in the areas of Heating & Home Comfort and includes such well known brand names as Andrews Water Heaters, Aqualisa, Heatrae Sadia, Potterton & Valor.

The self-contained Portable Emergency Tank (PET) from Elson, offers local authority housing and maintenance departments, installers and householders a solution when domestic water heating failure or cut-off cannot be speedily rectified. Easily moved to site, the groundbreaking PET - with its 3kW immersion heater - is readily connected to a domestic mains cold water tap, producing a bath (55 litres at 60 degrees C) of usable hot water to householders in around an hour, from start-up, at minimum cost.

Elson’s PET also prevents the need for stop-gap boiling water products, often poorly positioned - for instance on the edge of the bath - and only capable of producing small quantities of scalding, potentially dangerous, hot water. The robust unit’s ease-of-use means that on-site contractors can carry on with remedial work or keep to schedule on a programme of planned refurbishment -even if the normal hot water supply may be affected.

The PET is housed in a Plastic Omnium 90 litre two wheeled container, showing how versatile the latter can be in terms of final application and just how working closely with our customer base can provide innovative solutions to product / service issues.

For more information, visit www.elson-pet.com

Newport City Council extends green waste collection scheme 20,000 households no longer green with envy

Newport City Council’s green waste collection scheme was offered to a total 20,000 residences during the spring of 2004.  Phase One of the green waste collection extension would see almost half of Newport’s streets offered an orange-lidded bin for green waste. The completion of Phase Three by late summer would see a combined total of over 50,000 residences, with a garden and storage space, offered the bin.

Residents on the trial diverted nearly 250 tonnes of garden waste away from the landfill site, equivalent in weight to 50 elephants!

As part of Newport’s commitment to reducing the waste to landfill by 2010, the last phase of the green waste collection trial commenced across ten thousand homes in April 2003. Five thousand homes were offered orange bags to fill with green waste, another five thousand were offered orange-lidded bins the same size as the regular refuse bin. During the trial the council collected seven tonnes of green waste per week including branches, shrubs, grass and leaves from the orange-lidded bins, compared to four tonnes of green waste collected per week from the orange bags. A questionnaire completed by the trial participants revealed an overwhelming preference to use the orange-lidded bins:

- 97% of those on the green waste bin collection trial said they wanted to continue using the bins
- 63% of those on the bag scheme preferred to continue using the bags

Due to the success of the orange-lidded bins, by mid-April, Newport had replaced the orange bags with the orange lidded bins and provided the green waste bins and collection service to residences who signed up to the scheme. By the end of the summer, Newport City Council had completed all phases of the green waste collection scheme.

Graham Dally, the then Cabinet Member for Transport and Sustainable Development said, “The green waste scheme is vital to reducing the waste going to the landfill site and has proved very popular with residents on the trial. We would like all the households who receive the registration form, to sign up to the scheme and join the others doing their bit for a greener Newport.  Special thanks must go to the households who have already put 250 tonnes of their garden waste to better use, by making compost rather than sending it to landfill.”

Newport’s garden waste scheme hits 20,000

Over 20,000 people have now signed up to Newport City Council’s garden waste scheme, after registration for the third phase of the scheme rollout closed on 25th June 2004.  Phase Three of the scheme saw 6,600 people sign up for orange-topped bins for garden waste, out of around 10,000 homes offered, a huge 65% response rate.  The Council has already started the fortnightly
collection of garden waste from 14,000 houses with the garden waste bins.

Ron Jones, Newport’s new Cabinet Member for Transport and Sustainable Development said, “As a pioneering council we knew this scheme would be popular because of its simplicity for the householder and the environmental benefits, but the response from Newport residents has exceeded our expectations. We have channelled resources into rolling out this scheme as quickly as we can, though we cannot deliver bins to everyone as quickly as we would like, due to the high demand for the limited bins. The residents on the scheme have already provided 550 tonnes of garden waste for composting since April and we are keen to collect more as soon as we can add more people to the scheme, though this may not be until next year for some people.”

A trial green bin scheme was introduced in September 2001 and included some 5,000 properties in the Hady, Spital, Hasland and Boythorpe areas.  Each home was delivered a second wheeled bin, green in colour, which was for the collection of garden waste and cardboard.  The bin was to be collected on alternate weeks, with a black bin for normal rubbish one week and the green bin, with compostable materials, the following week. The collections were suspended at the end of November and restarted in March 2002. A blue box for the kerbside collection of glass bottles and jars, tins and cans, textiles and newspapers, magazines and junk mail was also implemented in March 2002. In 2002 the two recycling schemes introduced in Autumn 2001 were expanded to include a further 7,000 properties in the Borough. From April to the end of November 2002, these schemes contributed a massive 2,598 tonnes to the total which Chesterfield Borough Council was due to recycle in 2002/3.
The garden waste and cardboard collected in the green bin was 1,544 tonnes and the material collected via the blue boxes was a further 1,054 tonnes.
The total material collected for recycling in 2002 was 4,058 tonnes from all sources, ie green bins, blue boxes, blue bags and bring sites.  The extra tonnes would have a huge impact on 2002’s recycling rate of 9.56%.The success of the schemes is largely due to the positive way in which residents have responded to the need, to reduce the amount of rubbish Chesterfield Borough Council was disposing of to landfill.  As the twin bin scheme started again at the end of February 2003, residents were asked to continue this positive support and to pick up where they left off the year prior.

The green bins are for garden waste and cardboard only; the blue boxes for all clean glass bottles and jars, clean tins and cans, newspapers and magazines and textiles. The next part of the programme, to increase the number of properties receiving kerbside collections of green waste and dry recyclables was implemented in June 2003. A further 6,000 properties received a blue box and 4,600 were issued with a second wheeled bin for the collection of green waste and cardboard.

The schemes already in place collected the following tonnages in 2002:-
1,510 tonnes of green waste for composting from 12,000 properties (6,000 of which were only included since September) and 1,563 tonnes of dry recyclables from 18,000 properties (6,000 of which were only included since September).

Why is the scheme still very important to Chesterfield Borough Council?

The schemes are necessary to ensure that the Council reaches Government recycling and composting targets of 16% by the end of 2003 and 25% by 2005; they also ensure that valuable resources, such as glass and paper, are not wasted but diverted for recycling.
43,000 tonnes of rubbish were produced by Chesterfield householders in 2003. Most of this was buried in landfills.  Around 40% of this could have been recycled and around 30% of this could have been composted. However, due to the inclusion of residents on the twin bin scheme, approximately 3,000 tonnes of green waste and cardboard was diverted from landfill in 2003.

Chesterfield’s recycling rate for 2003/4 was 12% (5,322 tonnes) for dry recyclables and 7.34% (3,255 tonnes) for green waste.  The green waste collection was from 12,000 properties only.

Government praise for Chesterfield Borough Council as recycling schemes expand.

Chesterfield Borough Council’s recycling achievements have been praised by the Government, even before a massive extension of a successful recycling scheme, which already covers more than half the Borough. Figures just released show that the whole country is on track to meet tough new recycling targets set by the Government, but Chesterfield has done better than most by not only meeting, but beating its target.

Minister of State for the Environment, Elliot Morley, has written to the Borough Council to say: “I am very grateful for the substantial commitment you have demonstrated to improving recycling and composting rates, and working for a more sustainable approach to waste management.”

Last year (2003), 19% of Chesterfield’s rubbish was recycled or composted; beating the Government set target of 16%.  Over 3,250 tonnes of green waste and cardboard was diverted from landfill and sent for composting through the Council’s green bin scheme, while residents on the blue box scheme for the kerbside collection of glass, cans and paper, diverted a further 2,573 tonnes of rubbish from the Council’s landfill site.
There are also over 80 recycling sites throughout the Borough where people can take their rubbish, including textiles and plastic, to be recycled.

The Government accolade comes just as the Council is set to extend its blue box scheme. Already, 24,000 homes across the Borough have regular collections from their boxes and by the end of October an extra 12,500 homes, including Staveley, Duckmanton, Poolsbrook, Mastin Moor, Barrow Hill, Hollingwood, Brimington and Tapton will be added to the scheme.  This will bring the number of homes on the blue box scheme to 36,500 - 80% of households in the Borough. Four thousand properties have recently been added to the green bin scheme for compostable materials, taking the total to 20,000 homes, almost half the Borough.

Councillor Keith Morgan, Lead Member for Sustainability and Environmental Services said: “I would like to thank all residents in the town for being so co-operative in the recycling programme, ensuring its success this year. This is not simply the success of the Council, this is a partnership effort and is an achievement for the town, as a whole, to be proud of. I know some residents find recycling difficult, but the Government is expecting us to hit 25% by the end of 2005 and we are on course to do that.”

Bracknell Forest Borough Council, Reading Borough Council and Wokingham District Council have formed the Central Berkshire Waste Partnership “re3″ and are working together on the development and provision of shared, long term waste management facilities.

In 2001/02 the Councils managed approximately 207,500 tonnes of household waste. Of this, 32,900 tonnes (16%) was recycled or composted and a further 7,200 tonnes (3%) was otherwise recovered, but still, 167,400 tonnes (81%) was disposed of to landfill. In addition, the Councils managed approximately 25,000 tonnes of other wastes comprised of Council waste, directly collected commercial waste and commercial/industrial waste delivered directly to civic amenity sites and waste transfer facilities by third parties. The majority of this 25,000 tonnes was landfilled.

Based on current filling rates, the region predicts that it will run out of landfill space in the next five years. There are no other landfill sites in Central Berkshire and none of the preferred areas identified in the Waste Local Plan, will be suitable for landfilling for some time. Although the three Councils have experienced a slow down in waste growth over the last few years, it is predicted that population in the area will continue to increase.  This will necessitate significant investment in and development of new waste facilities and infrastructure in the area.

In Bracknell Forest alone around 56,000 tonnes of household waste is collected each year - that’s over 1 tonne per household!  Almost 7,000 tonnes of that waste is recycled and 3,000 tonnes is made into compost.  The remainder is disposed of in a landfill site.  Over 60% of rubbish sent to landfill could be recycled and the council aims to encourage more recycling, composting and waste minimization for residents. The Government has set a statutory recycling and composting target of 27% for Bracknell Forest for 2005/6. 

The Councils are therefore considering a number of  possible solutions for improving the way Central Berkshire’s waste is managed. Bracknell Forest maintains 36 public recycling sites located throughout the Borough. The total amount recycled in the Borough last year was 6,942 tonnes. Bring facilities, in particular Civic Amenity sites are being targeted where specific containers are being sited to increase levels of  recycling. Two civic amenity centres currently exist in both Reading and Bracknell Forest (Longshot Lane). These handle approximately 50,000 tonnes of landfilled waste per year and 20,000 tonnes of materials, which are segregated and recycled or composted.  Wokingham District Council currently has shared access to these two sites.  At present, recycling facilities are provided for glass, metals and green waste, batteries, oils and gas cylinders.  The Councils are working towards improving the recycling rates at the two CA sites in the area.

With this in mind, Bracknell Forest have particularly adopted a number of Cityspots with civil engineering for the Longshot Lane CA site. 

The system has a concrete shell as well as double hook and double trap mechanism.  Two different capacity containers have been opted for namely 4m3 and 5m3 with the following waste streams targeted for collection: clear, green and brown glass, cans/plastics and mixed paper/cardboard.

Cityspot is a large capacity underground container, available for the collection of various types of materials. Only the small size access post is above ground. 

Both historic and contemporary town centres are often extremely built up and in some cases are protected sites.  Contributing to programmes which aim to return streets to pedestrians, Cityspot takes only a small amount of ground space.  This system therefore means that more of the population can take part in selective collection programmes, located in areas which have not hitherto been equipped, with the objective of increasing collected tonnages.

It’s easy to put waste into the units which are accessible to both children and disabled people. The small size post, with its discreet, attractive appearance, is dissuasive to vandalism, thus reducing maintenance costs.

Posts comprise three parts: Main body and identification panels in 4mm, anti-corrosion treated sheet steel with a powder coated finish.
The panels are individually colour coordinated for the waste streams to be collected. Trap and aperture options are adapted to the various types of materials to be collected. The lifting mechanism is also in galvanised steel and retracts into the top of the unit when not lifted.

When Cityspot is being emptied a metal platform (anti-corrosion treated mechanical-welded construction) covers the well to ensure pedestrian safety. This platform can take a maximum load of 50 kg. The upper part of the platform is hinged, thereby allowing operators to make a visual inspection of the well. 
An inspection cover is in place  in the columns for use by cleaning and maintenance teams. The lift/lower platform mechanism uses cables, pulleys and counterweights.