Reducing Rubbish by Recycling
Broadland's New Rubbish Collection Scheme

Figures show that on average each household in Broadland produces over a tonne of rubbish each year. This means that every year Broadland residents are responsible for sending about 53,000 tonnes of rubbish to landfill sites.

Broadland District Council has been set the target of increasing recycling from the current rate of 9% to 18% in 2004, rising to 27% in 2006. This means that by 2006 Broadland must recycle an additional 8,460 tonnes of rubbish. This is a significant increase and to meet the targets.

Broadland District Council is introducing a new, district-wide rubbish collection scheme. We are calling this new scheme 'Reducing Rubbish by Recycling' or RRR.

The new rubbish collection scheme uses two wheeled bins and will be an alternate weekly collection scheme, collecting rubbish one week and recyclable materials the next.

The new collection system is being phased in from March to December. All residents will be delivered a leaflet about four weeks before their collection changes. This will include a collection calendar illustrating which bin will be collected on which date and details of all roadshows that will be visiting each area prior to the start of the new system.

New grey wheelie bins will be delivered about two weeks before the start of the new collection system, along with further details about RRR. Bins will be emptied on normal collection days. The only difference is that the rubbish bin will be emptied on one week and the recycling bin the next. As usual, the council will communicate any change in the collection days to accommodate bank holidays.

The new grey recycling bin can be used for paper, clean food and drink cans, aerosols, clean card including cereal boxes etc and clean plastic bottles, but will be unable to take glass bottles, textiles, foil or plastic food trays or containers such as yoghurt pots. It is very important that glass is not included in the recycling bin. Glass can cause a health and safety risk for people sorting the materials and will contaminate other materials, such as paper and plastics, preventing them from being recycled.

The council can offer residents an additional recycling bin, but not a second rubbish bin. Residents should make as much use of the recycling bin as they can and any additional rubbish can be taken to nearest household waste centres.

Residents in terraced houses who are currently on a black sack collection will be offered a clear plastic sack for their recyclable material. Flat dwellers will be issued with communal bins for their rubbish and recyclables.

Residents can keep the old, green boxes, which may prove useful for storage and transportation of glass and clothes to local textile and bottle banks.

Garden waste will no longer be accepted in either bin and should be composted at home, taken to recycling centres or householders can opt into a new chargeable green waste collection using a brown wheelie bin. For an annual fee of £30 those residents who opt for the green waste collection scheme will be provided with a brown bin, which is the same size as the current rubbish bin. This will be emptied fortnightly on 20 occasions throughout the year. The same type of vehicle that currently collects rubbish will also collect green waste. All green waste collected will be shredded and composted. For more information call 01603 430575.

The UK produces 27 million tonnes of household rubbish per year - only 7.5% of this is currently recycled or composted.

Packaging waste makes up about a quarter of all the rubbish that goes into household bins and most of this could be recycled.

WasteWatch say that up to 60% of household waste is capable of being reused, recycled or composted.

More useful Information can be found at:

www.broadland.gov.uk

www.wastewatch.org.uk

www.recycledproducts.org.uk

RRR hotline: (01603) 430434.

Email contact for council: recycling@broadland.gov.uk.