Lichfield district council has agreed in principle to move to a to a dual-stream kerbside collection service, in a shake up of waste services brought on by a “dramatic change” in the market.
Tamworth currently operates a commingled dry recycling service
The move is subject to agreements with the waste disposal authority, Staffordshire county council, and follows increasing disposal costs under the current contract.
Lichfield district council has delivered waste services in partnership with Tamworth borough council under a shared arrangement since 2010.
The current joint service’s contract with Biffa for the disposal of dry mixed recycling is set to come to an end in March 2022, which has sparked an “urgent” need to discuss the future of waste services in the borough.
Discussion
In the meeting to discuss these changes on 8 July it was proposed that the cabinet approves the move to a dual-stream collection service as it has cheaper disposal costs.
Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Daniel Cook, Tamworth borough council’s cabinet member for economy and waste discussed the need for the changes.
“There was a significant change in the international market and industry around dry recycling a few years ago,” – Cllr Cook
Addressing the cabinet, he explained: “Members and officers will be aware there was a significant change in the international market and industry around dry recycling a few years ago. Countries like China and Vietnam changed their internal policies to stop becoming the worlds dumping ground.
“So it has become more difficult to dispose of recycling once it has been collected. This has put pressures on the current contract we have with our supplier to dispose of the recycling and the processing they have to go through got expensive.”
Cllr Cook explained that along with Lichfield borough council, it has undertaken a tendering exercise to look into “all the options”.
He added that it is felt that dual streaming is the “best approach going forward”.
Cllr Cook reiterated that this is not a “political whim” of the council, rather a response to “real industry conditions” around recycling.
Plans
Under the plans, residents will put glass, cans and plastic into their existing blue recycling bin, while paper and card would be put into a new container, likely to be a bag.
Currently, the council operates under a commingled recycling method where all the materials are placed in the blue bin.
The council explained that the dual-stream collection method would reduce contamination and allow the material to be more easily sorted, sold and reprocessed.
Funding
It notes however, that dual-stream waste would be more expensive to collect due to the additional container, meaning rounds would take longer.
The refuse collection vehicles (RCVs) with separate compartments for the two recycling streams would also be more expensive and require more frequent emptying.
For this reason, the council has said that it is negotiating with the Staffordshire county council for an uplift in funding support for recycling.
Dispute
The post Lichfield and Tamworth agree switch to dual-stream appeared first on letsrecycle.com.
Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
