Council saves £100,000 in landfill costs

by Lisa Reeves

Tuesday 15^th November 2011

Tue 15^th Nov 2011

Having transformed the way Cheshire East Council recycles household waste, latest figures show the amount being sent to landfill has reduced significantly.

In October, the amount of waste sent to landfill dropped by 1,000 tonnes compared to October 2010. This represents a saving of £100,000 – the cost the Council would have paid to send these additional one thousand tonnes to landfill.

The new figures coincided with the completion of the 'think silver' recycling scheme which saw the introduction of the new silver bin enabling residents to recycle more using just one bin.

New figures, released by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) show Cheshire East Council has the highest recycling rate of any unitary authority in the North West, with 49% of all household waste being recycled from November 2010 to November 2011. This figure makes Cheshire East the joint highest for recycling in comparison to all local authorities in the North West.

Councillor Rod Menlove, Cabinet member with responsibility for environmental services, said: "I cannot thank residents enough for their commitment to recycling. The impact of avoiding sending waste to landfill should not be underestimated – it improves our environment and reduces the ever-increasing cost to this authority and to council taxpayers.

"I am very pleased that Cheshire East has again maintained its recycling rate this year – this would not be possible without the continued efforts of our residents. I hope that the new silver bin scheme will see this figure increase in the year's to come."

Tags:: Cheshire East Council, Recycling, Waste Disposal

Comments

Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.

Chris Stock

Saturday 19^th November 2011 at 12:29 am

Having allowed a few weeks to average our recycling quantities, I'm finding that we, an average size family of 2 adults, 2 children and 2 dogs, are recycliong at least 1.5 silver bins worth per week but are now only half-filling the black bin - A ratio of 3:1 (or 3 times more recycling than landfill)
Clearly, we either need 2 silver bins or a weekly collection. I'm sure it makes financial sense to supply us with a second bin (out of the money saved) to allow even more recycling thus paying for the second bin.

We really would like to recyle more but find it neccesary to shove some of it in the black bin to balance quantities with collection frequency. We can't be the only ones, surely.

Rod Menlove

Saturday 19^th November 2011 at 3:22 pm

I think what Chris is achieving is fantastic and good news for us all and if he would like to contact me at then I'm sure that we can help.

Marc Asquith

Saturday 19^th November 2011 at 8:57 pm

I must confess - i have not yet put my black bin out since the silver bins were introduced - as a single guy living alone I generate almost no black bin waste now. My neighbour, Sophie Tudor, and I have agreed to use our two silver bins on a shared basis - so far we have not needed to use the second bin and so the council collectors have only had to collect one silver bin from two houses, saving time and effort for them.

If only we could recycle food waste easily - my kitchen and black bin would remain empty.

Tuesday 22^nd November 2011 at 1:14 pm

Rod, thanks for the response. Email to follow.