In 1990 St Edmundsbury Borough Council (SEBC) was committed to achieving the Government’s target to compost or recycle 25% of household waste by 2000. To understand how this could be achieved during 1992/93 extensive trials were carried out.
Following the trials SEBC introduced a kerbside collection of green kitchen and garden waste (brown bin scheme) which was to be extended across the Borough and, in addition, a kerbside paper collection was made available to 50% of residents. These schemes achieved a 26% recycling rate in 2000/01.
Subsequently, as a ‘high performer’, SEBC was given two of the highest statutory recycling targets in the country:
- to recycle/compost 33% by 2003/04; and
- to recycle/compost 40% by 2005/06 (capped to 30% in 2004).
From the results of the 1992/93 trials it was known that these targets could only be achieved if a dry recyclate kerbside collection was introduced together with an effective network of bring banks.
By 2002, SEBC had an established fortnightly kerbside collection of compostable green kitchen and garden waste to 34,000 (79%) of households using a brown wheeled bin, in addition to the weekly black bin collection for residual waste that yielded a recycling rate of 29%. In order to reach the 33% target, in partnership with Forest Heath District Council (FHDC), SEBC carried out comprehensive trials to ascertain the best method of diverting dry recyclables from the residual waste stream that included operating an alternate weekly collection using a three-bin system.
At the same time, a joint application with FHDC, was made to the DEFRA £140 million Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund and a grant was awarded for the expansion of the brown bin scheme across both districts and for an infrastructure investment including a transfer station and an upgrade of an in-vessel composting facility that would be compliant with the Animal By-Product Regulations.
The following year, another joint application with FHDC to the DEFRA £140 million Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund was successful and £2.049 million was awarded to implement a third wheeled bin for the collection of dry recyclable waste collected on alternate weeks.
Through a combination of political and management support, a thorough education campaign and strict policies, the 3-bin alternate week collection receives high levels of householder satisfaction, high participation and in 2004/05, after one-full year of it’s introduction, a 50.6% recycling and composting rate was achieved, the highest in the country.
The SEBC approach has been adopted as the model for all Suffolk Local Authorities. The Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy has been adopted by all the partners who are working towards implementing the three-stream collection approach. The Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy has a vision of 60% recycling/composting by 2010.
