Last week a report was published by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee that said the government needs to take the lead in an attempt to increase recycling rates and reduce the amount of waste we dispose of in landfill. The government is under pressure to get recycling levels to 50% by the year 2020 in order to comply with EU targets; but having risen significantly from 12% in 2001 to 43% in 2011 the rate of recycling appears to have stalled. When he became Waste Minister in November of last year, Dan Rogerson told the industry that the Department for Food Rural Affairs and the Environment (DEFRA) would be “stepping back in areas where businesses are better placed to act and there is no clear market failure”; a stance described as “premature” by Keep Britain Tidy. Uncertainty Despite encouraging improvements to the rate of recycling in the last 13 years, what remains clear is that householders remain confused over what they can and cannot recycle. It is estimated that only 1 in 4 of householders actually recycles correctly. This was a point raised by the committee who highlighted that confusion was exacerbated by there being in excess of 400 different waste schemes in England. In an attempt to reduce the amount of waste we are disposing of in landfill, many local authorities are putting measures in place to encourage house recycling. Some of the most common measures include:
- Making food waste collections more frequent than refuse
- Mechanically sifting black bags to recycle their contents
- Knocking on the doors of those who contaminate recycling
Fact: Every year, the average person in England throws away rubbish equal to five times their body weight, adding up to 22.6 million tons of household waste annually. It is estimated that only 1 in 4 of householders Managing Our Waste At WT Skip Hire we are proud of the fact that we are usually able to recycle around 90% of the contents of the skips we collect. We take the management of the waste we receive very seriously and the contents of all our skips are taken for sorting at our recycling centre. There we have a number of set containers to allow us to sort the waste into a range of different waste types, including:
- Wood
- Plastics
- Metals
- Textiles
- Glass
- Plate Glass
- Rubble and Soil
- Card and Paper
- Green Waste
You can find out more information about what happens to the waste once it has been sorted by clicking here. If you would like to know more about our waste management services do not hesitate to contact us. You can call us on 01493 668118 or drop us an email to info@wtskiphire.co.uk. 