New agreement cuts council’s total waste by 11% but halves green waste collected

Melton Borough Council has seen overall waste to landfill fall by 11% in the first full year since agreeing a new service model with Biffa, but the majority of gains came from street sweepings recovery, and green waste tonnage halved.


Last April saw the council launch a fully commingled, kerbside dry recycling service as well as a move from free green waste collection to a paid-for, membership model. The introduction, despite causing an initial dip in overall recycling rates, has driven a 15% increase in dry recycling tonnage to end of March 2013 (5,555 tonnes total).

Household residual rates declined 2% to around 10,771 tonnes, but the largest gains came from street sweepings recovery. These are now being delivered to Veolia’s facility in Warwickshire for the recovery of useful materials and the council expects to send 600 tonnes annually from this year onwards.

Added to the reduction in residual waste tonnage it meant a reduction in waste to landfill of 11.2%. Biffa calculates this saved 479 tonnes of CO2 compared with the previous year.

The figures for green waste collection are less of a cause for celebration as tonnage almost halved, perhaps unsurprisingly, as a result of the introduction of the paid-for model. Collected tonnage fell from 5,952 10 2011-12 to 3,050 in 2012-13.

However, Melton Council’s lead waste management officer Raman Selvon is pleased with the year’s performance:’ “We are sending less waste to landfill, more materials are being diverted and Biffa’s service efficiency has helped us make some very important cost savings, around 5% annually.”

edie staff

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