Harlow’s recycling rockets - thanks to you!
Monthly trends show that Harlow’s recycling
rates are currently doubling from 25% to 50% and this is all thanks
to the efforts of local residents.
Official figures released this week by the
Council show that Harlow is currently recycling and
composting around 50% of household waste compared to around
25% last year (see notes to editors).
The biggest improvement in the figures was
following the introduction of new waste and recycling collections.
The new system was rolled out across the town from the end of
October to December 2009. From the end of December 2009 almost all
houses were on the new system.
Councillor Tony Hall, Executive Committee
Member and Chairman of the Environment Working Group, said: “Last
year around three quarters of household waste was going to
landfill. This was a huge waste of recyclable material, a massive
cost in Landfill Charges and a major source of Greenhouse
Gasses.The town is now recycling double what we were, which is a
fantastic achievement by residents. Whether 50% is sustainable over
the year is not yet proven, so I urge residents to keep up their
excellent recycling efforts and to do all they can to ensure every
scrap of recyclable waste goes into the right bin or bag.
“The new collection system brought in last
year is the reason for the massive improvement because it enables
more items to be recycled. This includes food waste, which used to
get buried at landfill but is now composted via a separate weekly
collection.
“Not only have residents recycled more but the
figures also show that more waste is being reduced and reused. We
want to continue to help residents recycle all they can as well as
reduce and reuse their waste.”
For more information on recycling in Harlow
visit www.harlow.gov.uk/recycling
or phone (01279) 446655.
Recycling figures are reported quarterly. The
latest figures available are from March 2010, which show that
Harlow’s recycling since December has been over 50%. Since the
introduction of new waste and recycling collections in October 2009
the recycling levels have been as follows compared to the previous
year:
| Month |
Rate |
Month |
Rate |
| March 2010 |
50.41% |
March 2009 |
25.25% |
| February 2010 |
50.19% |
February 2009 |
24.40% |
| January 2010 |
50.80% |
January 2009 |
26.10% |
| December 2009 |
51.70% |
December 2008 |
25.81% |
| November 2009 |
41.63% |
November 2008 |
25.98% |
| October 2009 |
30.64% |
October 2008 |
26.98% |
Overall the town’s recycling rate for 2009/10
was 35.35% compared to 26.05% for 2008/9 which is due to the
previous waste and recycling system being used for the first six
months of the financial year.