Lancashire hits EU waste target and raises £2.2m from our recycling

More than £2m has been raised by Lancashire County Council from the sale of our recyclable material in 2015/16.
Recycling bins in St Oswald Street in Lancaster.Recycling bins in St Oswald Street in Lancaster.
Recycling bins in St Oswald Street in Lancaster.

The county hit its EU target of recycling more than 50 per cent of waste (51.6 per cent) this year, up from 47.3 per cent in 2014/15.

The EU Waste Framework Directive 2008 requires EU member states to recycle more than half of its waste by 2020.

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The amount raised from selling plastics, glass, paper and other recyclable material doubled between 2013/14 (£1.1m) and 2015/16 (£2.2m).

Figures for Household Waste Recycling Centres, also known as “the tip” have, remained similar over recent years, with 62 per cent of waste recycled at Carnforth, and 62 per cent at Lancaster this year. A county council spokesperson said that the figures don’t include construction and demolition waste, for example soil and rubble, as this is not considered household waste and cannot be used in calculating recycling rates against the UK’s 50 per cent target.

Recycling rates have improved across the Lancaster district over the last three years, but we are still below the county average at 44.5 per cent.

This works out at 351kg per person. A total of 22,269 tonnes of waste was collected by Lancaster City Council in 2015/16.

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Coun Brendan Hughes, cabinet member for clean and green, said: “We’re always looking to improve collection rates and the amount of materials that can be recycled.

“We’ve seen a year on year increase in our recycling rates and I’d like to thank householders for their efforts so far, but I also know we can do so much more.

“By working together and making sure we all do everything we can, and not just throw it all in the grey bin, we can boost our recycling rates even further. Items such as shampoo/shower gel bottles, perfume/aftershave bottles and aerosols, for example, can be easily forgotten about, but are all recyclable. More information is available on our website and I’d urge people to check it out and see what else they might be able to recycle that they aren’t currently.

“One of the biggest challenges we face is that we’re set to lose £1.2m through the county council’s decision to end cost sharing arrangements, increasing the costs of running our waste and recycling services.

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“The costs of collection and then disposal of waste keep on increasing. The more people continue to think about firstly whether they can reuse things, secondly whether they can reduce the amount they throw away, and thirdly make best use of the recycling service we have, then that helps in terms of managing the cost of services and also looking after the environment.”