Six month assessment of new refuse and recycling scheme

Proposals are being put forward to provide additional kerbside recycling to more than 3,000 households in Carlisle.

A six month review of the new refuse and recycling collection scheme in Carlisle is proposing an expansion of the popular kerbside plastic & cardboard recycling scheme to 3,000 more households in the urban and rural areas of the city. An additional 20 recycling bring sites are also proposed and would include provision for plastics recycling.

The review document, due to be discussed at a Carlisle City Council Executive committee next Monday (19 November), makes the following key conclusions:

• The Council’s new refuse and recycling service was introduced, as planned, between March and June this year. The scale of the challenge was immense. More than 45,000 wheeled bins were delivered along with 3,500 Greenboxes and 60,000 Green bags (for plastic and cardboard collections). New collection rounds were implemented, property specific information was sent to all 48,000 households in Carlisle and a new collection system was introduced.
• The aims and objectives set in the original Feasibility Study have been exceeded. The amount of household waste collected from Carlisle households and sent to landfill has reduced by 28%. The amount of household waste recycled exceeds 50% for the first time. The total amount of household waste collected (both landfilled and recycled) by the City Council and the County Council (from its Rome Street HWRC) has decreased by 8.75%.

The report also confirms that the new collection scheme has resulted in a record-breaking recycling rate for the city. Carlisle residents recycled more than 50% of their rubbish between March and October this year. The figure has exceeded expectations and means that Carlisle is one of the best performing recycling areas in the UK is also the first Cumbrian authority to achieve this figure.

The figures are the result of City Council’s new waste collection scheme that included the expansion of kerbside recycling to thousands of householders this spring. The staggering 52% compares to 34% during the same time last year.

Carlisle’s new look refuse collections are also set to save an estimated £1.8million in landfill fines this year. If the scheme continues, as it is, then the amount of household waste that ends up in landfill this year could be almost half the amount landfilled by the city in 2002. Five years ago, the City Council landfilled 37,500 tonnes of rubbish from Carlisle households.

The report also looked at the impact of the scheme on fly tipping, the amount of vermin and the method of collection. It found that:

• Refuse stored in back lanes and put out for collection on days other than the correct collection date is causing a major problem for residents in certain parts of the city.
• Steps to alleviate the amount of refuse bags in back lanes have already been taken and a pilot front of house collection scheme is reporting a decrease in fly tipping in back lanes. Proposals to increase this method of collection are included within the review document. Enforcement of ‘hot spot’ areas has also been proposed, including the use of CCTV surveillance.
• Fears that the new scheme would increase vermin have proved to be unfounded. Compared to the same period last year, there has been a decrease in the number of rat reports.

The new grey bin refuse collection system forms part of Carlisle’s recycling revolution that has resulted in the vast majority of householders benefiting from some form of kerbside recycling collection. The new look refuse and recycling collections make a it easier for residents to recycle more and aims to reduce the amount of rubbish going to landfill, helping the County Council avoid Government landfill fines - which may have resulted in an increase in Council Tax.