Report shows destination of Shropshire's waste
Shropshire residents produced more than 38,000 tonnes of waste between October and December 2007, latest figures from Shropshire Waste Partnership show.
Of this, almost 9,000 tonnes was sent to be recycled, and some 7,600 tonnes of garden and food waste - 20 per cent of the total - was composted. Just under 22,000 tonnes of waste was sent to landfill sites in Telford and near Wrexham during the same period.
The figures are included in a report which also details what happens to people’s waste after they put it out for collection, take it to a recycling centre or place it in a recycling bank.
It shows that the garden and food waste is sent for composting on local farms, or at local reprocessors, in Shropshire and Herefordshire. The resulting material is then spread on farm land as a soil improver or sold.
Meanwhile, most other types of waste are sent to specialist companies in Shropshire and across the UK to be sorted and processed before being recycled into new products for reuse or sale.
For example, aluminium cans are sent to Novelis in Oldbury, before being melted down and reused by the steel and aluminium industry. Glass is sent to Recresco in Ellesmere Port where it is recycled and then reused by the glass industry. Paper is sent to a paper mill in Deeside where it is turned into new paper. And plastic bottles are sent to companies in Welshpool, Nottingham and Shrewsbury before being used to make new plastic products.
Councillor Joyce Barrow, Chairman of Shropshire Waste Partnership, said: “Shropshire residents now have some of the best waste and recycling services in the country, and are recycling and composting more than ever. However, we hope that showing people exactly what happens to the waste that they send for recycling will encourage them to continue to recycle and, if possible, to recycle even more.”
Since 1 October 2007 Veolia Environmental Services have been responsible for managing waste and recycling services on behalf of Shropshire Waste Partnership. Under the contract, Veolia provides details of where and who receives the waste they have collected since this date and from where the waste originated.
The information in the report - which was presented to members of the Shropshire Waste Partnership joint committee yesterday (13 May) - relates to the Shropshire County Council area only, and doesn’t refer to waste produced by Telford and Wrekin residents.
14 May 2008
