Residents on track to hit 60% annual recycling target
St Albans City and District Council is set to increase the annual household recycling rate to over 60% thanks to residents’ efforts to recycle more of their waste.
Following the launch of the new recycling scheme in June 2016, the recycling rate for the 12 months to March 2017 has increased to 57.2%. This is above the 57% target for the 12-month period and up from 52.4% for the same period the previous year.
As residents are recycling more of their waste, the amount sent to landfill has reduced by 2,293 tonnes so far. This represents a saving for taxpayers in landfill costs of around £230,000.
An update on the latest recycling figures will be presented to the Council’s Cabinet on Thursday 27 April. It shows that the Council’s recycling performance for the final two quarters of 2016/17 was 57.9%, up from 49.3% for the same period last year.
Assuming that current performance levels are sustained or improved, the update says the Council is on track to achieve the 2017/18 financial year annual target of 60.9%.
Cllr Daniel Chichester-Miles, Portfolio Holder for Environment for St Albans City and District Council, said: “The figures show that residents have embraced the new recycling scheme introduced by the Council last summer. I want to thank everyone for adapting to the new recycling scheme and reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill. By working together to recycle as much waste as possible we can increase the annual recycling rate even more.”
Under the new waste and recycling scheme, the Council introduced a combined collection for cans, foil, plastics, glass bottles and jars, as well as a separate weekly food collection. Full details of the new scheme are available at: www.stalbans.gov.uk/wasteandrecycling. For waste and recycling
queries, email wastemanagementservices@stalbans.gov.uk or call 01727 809019.
The update on the performance of the Council’s recycling scheme is included in the papers for the Cabinet meeting, available online.
The public can attend the meeting at 7pm on Thursday 27 April at the District Council’s offices at the Civic Centre, St Peter’s Street, St Albans. The meeting is also being webcast and can be watched on the Council’s website.
(Please contact Democratic Services if you would like to see this webcast DemocraticServices@stalbans.gov.uk)
Councillor contact:
Cllr Daniel Chichester-Miles, Portfolio Holder for Environment for St Albans City and District Council
Tel: 01727 819281
Email: cllr.d.chichester-miles@stalbans.gov.uk
Contact for the media:
Amanda Wilkinson,
Media and Internal Communications Officer
St Albans City and District Council
Tel: 01727 819317
E-mail: amanda.wilkinson@stalbans.gov.uk
www.stalbans.gov.uk
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