Big Jump in Bournemouth Recycling Rate

Residents in Bournemouth are now recycling a whopping 50 per cent of their household waste according to the latest official figures. Last year the figure was 43 per cent.

In addition the amount of waste we are throwing away in the first place has declined by 12 per cent on the previous year.

Councillor Michael Filer, portfolio holder for Environment & Transport, said: “This is fantastic news and demonstrates quite clearly just how much people care about their environment by choosing to recycle as much of their waste as possible. We are delighted at the big rise in our recycling rate, especially as we have reached a significant milestone of 50 per cent.

“We always aim to make Bournemouth a leading town in many areas, and clearly recycling waste is yet another area where we are performing well. Together we can recycle more and waste less!”

In the last 12 months the increase in the official recycling rate is attributed to increased education and awareness of recycling issues in Bournemouth and the success of the Green Waste Collection Scheme.

Georgina Lamb, Environment & Recycling Officer, said: “We are delighted that the residents of Bournemouth have supported recycling in the borough so much and as a town we can be justifiably proud of what we are achieving. To be at the 50 per cent level is just amazing but this is not the time to ease off. Reaching this level is one thing but we must continue our efforts to maintain it or even better, go that little bit further.”

The figures for 2009/10 have been announced by the Department for Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and come four years after Bournemouth launched its massively successful ‘Big Bin, Little Bin’ kerbside waste collection scheme.

Fact file:

‘Big Bin, Little Bin’ was introduced in 2006 replacing the old Blue Bag recycling scheme
Residents are given a large wheelie bin for recycling which is collected fortnightly and a smaller bin for all other waste, collected weekly
Items which can be recycled in Big Bin include glass, plastic bottles, newspaper, cardboard and food & drinks cans
More than 25,000 residents in Bournemouth have also opted for the green waste kerbside collection, which runs April to Nov each year
In 2006 Bournemouth’s official recycling rate was 23 per cent
Bournemouth is in the top ten authorities in England for dry recycling (any recyclable material which can’t be composted)

More recycling news can be found via the Council’s Facebook recycling group, www.facebook.com/recycleforbournemouth or www.bournemouth.gov.uk/recycling

By Heidi Rees (Bournemouth 2026 Partnership)

Posted: Friday 10 September 2010

Permalink: http://www.bournemouth2026.org.uk/big-jump-in-bournemouth-recycling-rate

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