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colchesterfoeSent to East Anglian Daily Times letters page, 21 March 2011
in response to an article also published on their website as Essex: Friends of the Earth say Tendring council is rubbish at recycling
Tendring kerbside recycling not so dreadful
Dear Editor,
Tendring council featured on the EADT 16th March front page 'Shame of home waste figures' for recycling 'about 27%' in 2009/10 - 'the second lowest percentage among local authorities in the East of England'. This is misleading and unfair, as that 27% only includes dry recycling because Tendring does not collect garden waste which is included in the other figures.
Tendring residents' home composting is the very best way to compost garden and food waste. But Tendring has five county-run Household Waste Recycling Centres, more than any other Essex district - to which residents took nearly 9000 tonnes of garden waste last year for composting. Strangely, this is counted in the county council's 63.2% recycling figure, not in Tendring's.
The other districts' recycling figures quoted in the article were the combined kerbside collections of dry recyclables and garden/food waste. But Tendring's 27.5% kerbside collection of dry recyclables alone is fifth highest in the county and slightly higher than the average 26.3% dry recycling collected by the twelve Essex districts. Yes - of course they could and should all be recycling more!
Tendring's recycling is only slightly below the 28.7% dry recyclables collected mixed (commingled) in a wheelie bin at Rochford which the article said 'was top for the region' and 'recycled just over 61%'. But that figure also includes a smelly wheelie bin collection of mixed garden waste and food waste.
Food waste should be collected separately in a lidded bucket as Chelmsford council is just about to do, to go to a local Anaerobic Digestion plant such as has just been permitted at Halstead. This totally enclosed liquid system provides renewable energy - most efficiently as gas for the gas grid - or as electricity for the grid, as well as clean compost.
Rochford's dry recyclables are tipped from the wheelie bins into a compactor, crushed and contaminated, losing the value of the materials collected, particularly paper. It is very costly to then be sorted out mechanically, which also wastes energy, and as much as 15% will be unusable and dumped or burnt. It is then usually exported.
WRAP, the Government-funded advisory body, have brought out various reports showing that proper separated kerbside collections of recyclables are cheaper to run, and bring in top prices for quality recyclates for our own UK reprocessors, who are pleading for clean materials. Chelmsford council has separated kerbside recycling with a local baling depot for valuable recyclates.
Thank goodness all political parties on Colchester council have pledged we won't have wheelie bins, but we are still waiting to hear when they are going to get rid of the unsuitable 'split' vehicles and invest in proper vehicles to collect our separated recyclables.
Yours sincerely,
Paula Whitney, Co-ordinator,
Colchester & North East Essex Friends of the Earth,
4 Shears Crescent, West Mersea, Essex, CO5 8AR.
in response to an article also published on their website as Essex: Friends of the Earth say Tendring council is rubbish at recycling
Tendring kerbside recycling not so dreadful
Dear Editor,
Tendring council featured on the EADT 16th March front page 'Shame of home waste figures' for recycling 'about 27%' in 2009/10 - 'the second lowest percentage among local authorities in the East of England'. This is misleading and unfair, as that 27% only includes dry recycling because Tendring does not collect garden waste which is included in the other figures.
Tendring residents' home composting is the very best way to compost garden and food waste. But Tendring has five county-run Household Waste Recycling Centres, more than any other Essex district - to which residents took nearly 9000 tonnes of garden waste last year for composting. Strangely, this is counted in the county council's 63.2% recycling figure, not in Tendring's.
The other districts' recycling figures quoted in the article were the combined kerbside collections of dry recyclables and garden/food waste. But Tendring's 27.5% kerbside collection of dry recyclables alone is fifth highest in the county and slightly higher than the average 26.3% dry recycling collected by the twelve Essex districts. Yes - of course they could and should all be recycling more!
Tendring's recycling is only slightly below the 28.7% dry recyclables collected mixed (commingled) in a wheelie bin at Rochford which the article said 'was top for the region' and 'recycled just over 61%'. But that figure also includes a smelly wheelie bin collection of mixed garden waste and food waste.
Food waste should be collected separately in a lidded bucket as Chelmsford council is just about to do, to go to a local Anaerobic Digestion plant such as has just been permitted at Halstead. This totally enclosed liquid system provides renewable energy - most efficiently as gas for the gas grid - or as electricity for the grid, as well as clean compost.
Rochford's dry recyclables are tipped from the wheelie bins into a compactor, crushed and contaminated, losing the value of the materials collected, particularly paper. It is very costly to then be sorted out mechanically, which also wastes energy, and as much as 15% will be unusable and dumped or burnt. It is then usually exported.
WRAP, the Government-funded advisory body, have brought out various reports showing that proper separated kerbside collections of recyclables are cheaper to run, and bring in top prices for quality recyclates for our own UK reprocessors, who are pleading for clean materials. Chelmsford council has separated kerbside recycling with a local baling depot for valuable recyclates.
Thank goodness all political parties on Colchester council have pledged we won't have wheelie bins, but we are still waiting to hear when they are going to get rid of the unsuitable 'split' vehicles and invest in proper vehicles to collect our separated recyclables.
Yours sincerely,
Paula Whitney, Co-ordinator,
Colchester & North East Essex Friends of the Earth,
4 Shears Crescent, West Mersea, Essex, CO5 8AR.
