Congratulations! Since we added plastic pots, tubs, and trays (PTT) to kerbside collections in March. You recycled nearly 150 tonnes of them in the first five months!
What a fantastic achievement
Plastic headed for recycling is compacted into rectangular bales before being sent off for processing. Figures show that if the bales were stacked on top of each other. They would create a tower far taller than the Emley Moor mast. The tallest freestanding structure in the United Kingdom, and the 24th tallest tower in the world.
The introduction of PTT was our first addition to kerbside recycling collections in over ten years. We are hoping that this positive start will see a significant increase in recycling figures for the district.
Councillor Naheed Mather, Cabinet member for Environment said:
“Hitting nearly 150 tonnes of new plastic recycled in the first five months since launch is a fantastic achievement – incredibly, it is the same weight as 300 grand pianos. This year’s National Recycling Week is asking us to reflect on what we are doing and ask what more can be done? From the feedback we get, we know that many of you, like us, want to do more recycling. However, a key challenge for us is in getting the contamination rates down further. If we could do that, we could be looking at massively increasing those figures, reducing our impact on the environment, and doing even more in Kirklees to combat climate change.”
Contamination – let’s get it down
The contamination of one bin can lead to a whole wagon load not being recycled. Given that on average 367 tonnes of green bin waste is processed at the Council’s Materials Recycling Facility (MRF), at Emerald Street in Huddersfield. The potential for improving recycling rates is clear.
Contamination can take many forms. As well as the usual problems with black bag waste, food, nappies and dog mess, a major issue is plastic bags and film being put in green bins. These cause issues for the MRF staff who have to remove them and end up missing recycling materials. They also become wrapped around and entangled in conveyors and other sorting equipment leading to delays and damage to machinery.
Find your local recycling point
Both of these items can be recycled separately without running the risk of causing damage to the MRF machinery and stopping more materials from being recycled. Over 30 supermarkets in and around Kirklees now have special collection points for plastic bags and film. To find your local collection point use Recycle Now’s new Recycling Locator Tool Repeat the Cycle | Recycle Now
Councillor Mather continued;
“Out of 311,000 tonnes of plastic wrapping that is placed on our shelves, only 6% is recycled – we must do better than that. The Recycling Locator Tool has over 4,000 supermarkets listed all over the UK, it is a great resource, and we encourage residents to make good use of it.”
Watch our video
If you want to know a little more about the MRF and the recycling of PTT in Kirklees. You can watch this video made for the launch of the collection in March. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CK2Vn0DkWrY