The Three Rs - Why Bother?
In 1997 the quantity of waste generated in County Durham could have filled Durham Cathedral 30 times over! Over 260 000 tonnes of household waste is produced in the County every year and much of this ends up being buried in the ground (in landfill sites). Should this level of waste be of concern to us and if so why?
Climate Change
Firstly, there are the big environmental issues such as climate change. Slowing energy consumption could prevent global warming and yet vast amounts of energy are used in producing goods from primary materials. According to the Central Statistics Office, far from slowing energy consumption, Britain is accelerating it. Think about the amount of energy it takes to make a product and the amount of packaging that often comes with it! Then think how wasteful it is just to bury that product in the ground! Recycling reduces the amount of energy that is consumed. It is true that recyclable materials often have to be transported great distances to be processed but this is nothing compared to the transportation that is necessary to replenish the manufacturing industry with virgin materials from across the world. As more reprocessing plants are built the benefits from recycling will become even more apparent.
Landfill
Landfill sites have to be found to dump our waste. The greater the volume of rubbish - the more space that has to be found and let's be honest - who wants a landfill site in their backyard? Reducing waste extends the life-time of existing landfills and thus conserves the British countryside. Also, rubbish in landfill sites generates methane - a greenhouse gas which contributes to global warming.
Depletion of Raw Materials
The production of raw materials is damaging to the environment through the mining, transportation and energy use that is required. The more responsible we are about what we consume and the waste we produce, the less environments will be degraded in a continuous search for raw materials.
Employment
The more we recycle and the more we buy recycled goods, the more jobs there will be in this sector.
Community Links
Recycling initiatives can build community links. For example a community group could set up a Re>Paint scheme (see section on Household Hazardous Waste) which distributes unused paint.
You Can Make a Difference
Reduction, re-use and recycling of our waste is an easy, effective response to what can seem to be extremely daunting environmental issues. Just a little bit of effort can go a long way and make a significant difference. At least 50% of household waste is capable of being re-used or recycled including cans, bottles, plastics, paper, kitchen waste (which can be turned into compost) and even old computers, mobile phones, furniture and tyres. In some cases your waste can be used to raise money for charity!
You Can Save Money!
Finally, you can save money through re-use, repair and reduction.
Reducing, Re-using and Recycling Different Materials
Batteries
It is currently very difficult to recycled batteries in County Durham. The environmentally best option is to avoid the use of batteries wherever possible.
Batteries contain a variety of chemicals and heavy metals such as mercury, lead and cadmium which can cause pollution and harm to health.
Batteries which can currently be recycled in County Durham are:
Rechargeable power tool battery packs
Black and Decker are now operating a scheme to collect old battery packs from their power tools . The batteries are sent to a company in France where they are recycled (the steels go back to metals manufacturers and the Cadmium goes back to the battery manufacturer). For more information contact: Colin Thirlaway, Safety & Environment Manager, Black & Decker, Spennymoor (tel: 01388 422201). The scheme cannot accept non-rechargeable (Zinc-Carbon) batteries.
Lead - acid (car) batteries
The easiest way to get lead- acid car batteries recycled in County Durham is to take them to a civic amenity site (tip). The batteries will then be collected and the lead recovered. For more information contact Durham County Waste Management Company on 0191 384 4000.
Mobile phone batteries
Some mobile phone network companies offer a collection and recycling service for used mobile phone batteries (to major customers, e.g. businesses, local councils etc.). Vodaphone are one of the networks which offer this service (see section on mobile phones).
Cans
Last year (2000) nearly �30 million was thrown away in the form of empty aluminium cans. Used aluminium cans are valuable as they can be recycled time and time again without loss of quality. Up to 95% of the energy needed to produce new aluminium ore is saved by recycling. There at least three methods of recycling your cans:
Public can-banks
Most public can recycling banks will accept aluminium cans, steel cans and food cans. Empty food cans should be washed and squashed before going into the can bank. See the lists at the end of the factsheet for your nearest can-bank.
Local charities
Butterwick Hospice at Bishop Auckland collect aluminium and steel cans at their Woodhouse Lane site in Bishop Auckland. When their store is full, volunteers from the Hospice take the cans and foil to the local merchant in St. Helens Auckland. All proceeds go towards the running of the Hospice.
Local metal merchants
An alternative method of recycling cans is to collect them and take them to a scrap metal dealer (providing you can find suitable storage and transport facilities). It is better to separate aluminium cans from steel ones (steel is magnetic, aluminium is not). The two metals will usually need to be separated before they can be recycled. You will get more money for just aluminium cans than you will for a mixture of aluminium and steel cans.
Local metal merchants that may accept aluminium cans
(Information supplied by Alupro - the national Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation)
Always phone the metal dealers beforehand to check details - most dealers will insist that Aluminium cans are separated from steel cans.
- Darlington: Hanrattys, Wooler Street, Northgate, Darlington, County Durham, DL1 1RQ. Tel: 01325 464 566
- Darlington: Ward Brothers (Steel) Ltd. Lloyds Foundry, York St, Albert Road, Darlington, County Durham, DL1 2UJ. Tel: 01325 460831
- Durham: Shepard (Durham) Ltd, Scrap Centre Marshall Works, Durham City, County Durham, DH1 2HX. Tel: 0191 264 5673. Payment currently stands at 45p per kilogram (or 50p per kilo if there are over 50 kilograms).
Mobile cash for cans van collection points:
| Consett | Safeway Car Park | Monday afternoons 1.30 pm - 4 pm. |
| Darlington | Morrisons Car Park, Neasham Road | Mondays 10.15 am - 12.30 pm. |
| Peterlee | Lodge Hotel Car Park, Bede Way. | Tuesdays 1.30 pm - 4pm. |
| Washington | Galleries Eastern Car Park | Fridays 10 am - 12.30 pm. |
Can-crushing machines are useful for reducing the amount of storage space taken up by cans. Contact details of suppliers of can-crushers can be obtained from ALUPRO (Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation). Tel: 0345 227722 Email: [email protected]
Cartridges: Printer and fax cartridges
In the UK every year over 6 million toner cartridges are used. It is estimated that about 50% of these end up in landfill sites. Cartridge consumption is currently rising in the UK by 15%. A toner cartridge is a non-biodegradable product made from durable plastic housing a metal corona wire, selenium OPC drum and residual toner. Toner cartridges from printers, copiers and fax machines are a valuable waste product.
SCOPE Toner Donor scheme
To get involved in the SCOPE Toner Donor scheme is easy. Simply contact the hotline numbers: freephone 0800 781 2600 (for information) and 0845 4588822 (to arrange collection). You can either arrange a special collection or be sent Freepost envelopes (which can hold up to six inkjet cartridges). SCOPE's top 10 favourite cartridges are:
- Cannon FX fax cartridges
- HP 5P/6P printers
- Lexmark Optra printers
- HP 1100
- HP 2100
- HP 5L/6L
- HP InkJets
- Cannon FC photocopiers
- HP 4000/5000 printers
- Panafax UF fax cartridges
This does not mean that other types of cartridges aren't of value. If you are unsure about the suitability of your cartridges call: 0845 4588822.
Imperial Cancer Research Fund cartridge recycling scheme
Imperial Cancer Research Fund
Ground Floor
The Manor House
95 Lichfield Street
Tamworth
Staffs.
B79 7QF
Tel: 0113 231 9828
A free collection service (and Freepost service) is available, as is an information pack which lists all of the cartridge types accepted. Phone Laserexchange direct as they collect the cartridges.
Buying Recycled
Lexmark offer prebate cartridges for sale for Lexmark Optra S, Optra Se and Optra T printers. They are offered at a special price with the understanding that they are used once and returned to Lexmark for controlled recycling. The empty cartridge can be returned to Lexmark for free.
Christmas cards and Christmas trees
In recent years Boots stores have collected old Christmas cards in January. Several district and borough councils also collect cards and Christmas trees for recycling. The County Durham Local Agenda 21 Partnership produces a 'Festive Factsheet' each year (in December) giving up to date details of these seasonal recycling schemes (Tel: 0191 383 3361)
Electronic Equipment
An estimated 1 million tonnes of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) is discarded by householders and commercial groups per year. Of this, 43% are white goods (fridges, freezers) and 19% is IT equipment. The disposal of electronic appliances in landfill sites contributes to a number of environmental problems. As well as wasting resources, such goods contain toxins that make finding suitable landfill sites difficult.
Re-use of IT equipment extends their product-life and can provide access to individuals and groups that may not be able to afford new equipment.
The Government have produced a free publication on 'Unwanted Computer Equipment - a Guide to Re-use' (see http://www.dti.gov.uk Tel: 0870 1502500).
If you have unwanted IT equipment which you would like to recycle, you could contact the following organisations;
- The YMCA in Fencehouses (near Chester-le-Street) have been involved in computer recycling and can be contacted on: 0191 385 5636.
- Logical Reclaim (Europe) www.lre.co.uk
- Northern Training take computers, printers, faxes and photocopiers. They are taken to a recycling plant in Seaham where they are re-processed and are then given to community welfare projects. Call Graham Simpson Tel: 0191 587 0715 for details.
NB: If your computer equipment is very old computer the organisations listed above may not be able to accept it.
Foil
As a rule you should not put aluminium foil into can recycling banks in County Durham (although this is possible in some other parts of the country). Stuffing aluminium foil inside cans is definitely not a good idea. Cans and foil are two totally different grades of aluminium and need to be kept separate to allow recycling.
In the past, Oxfam shops have collected foil for recycling but this is no longer the case. The national organisation responsible for promoting aluminium recycling (Alupro) has a list of organisations which collect aluminium foil for recycling in the UK. There are currently no such listed sites in County Durham. There are three foil collection sites in Sunderland (run by Sunderland Community Furniture Services, Unit 13c, Southwick Industrial Estate, North Hylton Road, Sunderland SR5 3TX tel: 0191 549 4343). The collection sites are located at Sainsburys (Silksworth Lane), Asda (Leechmere Road) and Carpark, Ocean park (Seaburn). Butterwick Hospice at Bishop Auckland will accept clean Aluminium Foil for recycling at their Woodhouse Lane site.
Furniture
There are several furniture schemes operating in County Durham which will accept unwanted furniture (which must be in reasonable condition). The furniture is distributed for charitable purposes.
- Chester-Le-Street: Chester-le-Street Furniture and Fabric Recycling Ltd. Tel: 0191 389 0888 (mobile: 07855 249 489) Open: 10am - 2pm (Mon-Thurs) and 10am - 1pm (Fri).
- Consett: Consett YMCA Tel: 01207 588 302 Open 9am - 4.30pm (Mon-Fri).
- Darlington: Darlington Furniture Helpline: Tel: 01325 381143 Open 9.30am - 12.30 pm (Tues, Wed and Thurs).
- Durham: Top and Bottom Furniture Scheme (Sherburn Road, Durham) Tel: 0191 384 8477
- Sedgefield: Sedgefield Furniture Scheme (based at Newton Aycliffe). Run by volunteers. Open Tuesdays and Thursdays 1.30pm - 3.30pm. Will collect within the Sedgefield Borough Area. Tel: 01325 311736.
- Sunderland: Sunderland Community Furniture Services will collect within about 15 miles of Sunderland. Tel: 0191 549 4343.
Glass
Glass can be recycled very efficiently without degradation in quality, saving on energy and resources. One tonne of recycled glass saves 30 gallons of oil. In addition, recycling saves on using primary raw materials (silica) so reducing quarrying and reducing damage to the landscape. Manufacture of new containers from crushed glass requires it to be strictly colour separated. The simplest way to recycle your glass is to rinse it, separate it into the three separate colours and take it to the nearest glass recycling banks.
It is very important not to mix up the three different colours of glass (clear, green, brown). This is because they contain different chemicals which react with each other when mixed, resulting in a very poor recycled product which has a lower value.
At events where there may be a lot of empty glass bottles left over, leave boxes clearly labelled for collecting the bottles for recycling, and encourage people to use them!
The Glass Recycling Code
The national organisation representing glass recyclers 'British Glass' have produced the following 10-point code which you should always follow when recycling glass:
- Always take refillable bottles, with or without deposit, back to the supplier. Never put milk bottles in a glass recycling bottle bank - always return them to the milkman.
- Before putting glass into bottle banks, empty and rinse the containers and remove any bottle caps or corks.
- At the bottle bank, separate clear, brown and green glass and place it into the appropriate bottle banks. Place blue bottles into the green bottle bank.
- Only deposit glass containers such as bottles and jars. Containers which hold food, pharmaceutical and household items and are packaged in glass are all recyclable as well as beer and wine bottles.
- Never deposit window glass, lightbulbs, Pyrex (or Visionware) cooking dishes or glass crockery items in the bottle banks.
- If a bottle is decorated (for example, coated with printing inks, paints or a plastic sleeve) look at the top of the bottle or jar where the cap has been and see what colour the glass is to determine which bank to put it in.
- Try to plan your trip to the bottle bank along with other essential trips such as shopping.
- Don't leave cardboard boxes, or plastic carrier bags used to bring the glass to the bottle bank unless there's a bin for these materials on site.
- Never go to the bottle bank late at night as your visit may disturb local residents.
- If you find your bottle bank is full, please try again another day
Household Hazardous Waste
The National Hazardous Waste Forum seek practical solutions to problems associated with the collection, safe disposal and recycling of household hazardous waste and its packaging. they cover an extensive range of materials including: paints and wood preservatives, batteries, fluorescent tubes, oils, adhesives, garden chemicals, pharmaceuticals, solvents, cleaners, asbestos, and CFCs. All of these materials have the potential to pollute the environment through the contamination of domestic waste streams. Voluntary organisations are encouraged to join.
Community Re>Paint Scheme
Save Waste and Prosper (SWAP) has prepared a manual with advice on how to set-up and operate a Community Re>Paint scheme. A Community Re>Paint scheme seeks to divert unwanted surplus paint from the waste stream and redistributes it free of charge within the community. SWAP has advice on usable materials and caution on unusable materials.
Paper (reduction)
Junk mail
There is a free service available called the 'Mailing Preference Service' which enables people to have their address removed from most direct mailing lists. To get an application form and more details contact:
Mailing Preference Service
Freepost 22
London
W1 7EZ
For Recycling Junk Mail see section on paper (recycling) below.
Photocopying tips
Huge quantities of waste paper can be generated through photocopying. The following tips can help with reducing the amount of paper used (saving energy and money) and stresses the potential of reusing some copies as scrap.
- Print off a single copy to check for mistakes before setting the photocopier on a big print run.
- Get into the habit of using double-sided and encourage others to do so. Perhaps issue instructions on a poster above the photocopier.
- Ask for double-sided if someone else is doing your photocopying for you.
- Put a clearly labeled box next to the photocopier for scrap paper that can be used again (that which is only printed on one side).
Printer tips- Get into the habit of printing out a draft version on the blank side of scrap paper.
- When buying a new printer purchase one that can cope with double-sided printing.
Paper (recycling)
Most of the existing paper banks in County Durham are for newspapers and magazines only (see
Public Recycling Sites in County Durham for details). As a general rule, office paper (that is, white paper) should not be put into these banks, as it is recycled in a slightly different way. In fact office-type paper put into a newspaper bank may well end up being separated out and put into a landfill site.
In Darlington all public paper banks will now accept white paper as well as newspaper and magazines.
In County Durham white office paper can be recycled at the white 'Junk mail' recycling banks located at some supermarkets located at:
- Consett: Safeways, Front Street
- Darlington: Somerfield, Winbush Way
- Framwellgate Moor: Potterhouse Civic Amenity Site
- Gilesgate: Somerfield, Dragon Lane, Dragonville
- Langley Moor: Kwik Save, High Street
- Pity Me: Sainsburys, Arnison Centre
These Junk-Mail recycling bins can also cope with newspapers, magazines and catalogues.
Office paper has a higher value than newspapers. The alternative to taking your office waste paper to one of the white 'Junk-Mail' recycling bins is to organise a collection for a charitable organisation.
Buying Recycled and Environmentally Friendly Paper
The Environment Agency uses the following criteria for all the paper which it now uses:
- 100% recycled
- Contain at least 50% 'Post-consumer' waste
- No chlorine bleach used in the recycling process
There are several brands of recycled paper available (including Xerox 'Recycled' and Xerox 'Recycled Supreme'). Details of several other suppliers of recycled paper can be found on the Recycled Products Guide Directory which is available on the World Wide Web at:
www.nrf.org.uk.
Be suspicious of paper which claims to be from 'sustainably-managed forests'. There are currently very few ways of verifying such claims.
Plastics
Why recycle/ re-use and reduce plastics?
plastics rely on oil (which is a limited resource) for production
energy is required in production. Recycling just one plastic bottle can conserve enough energy to power a 60W light bulb for 6 hours.
in most cases plastic does not biodegrade and takes up a lot of room in landfill sites.
Plastics know-how:
There are many different types of plastics which influences the ways in which they can or cannot be recycled. The following table is a general guide of the different types of plastics in various products:
| Short-hand | Type of plastic | Products |
| LDPE | Low Density Polyethylene | Used in shrink wrap and agricultural silage wrap. |
| HDPE | High Density Polyethylene | Used for transit boxes and milk bottle crates. |
| PVC | Polyvinyl Chloride | Stripped electrical cable |
| PS | Polystyrene | Vending cups |
| EPS | Expanded polystyrene | Transit packaging |
| PET | Polyethylene terephthalate | Carbonated drinks bottles |
| PPO | Polypropylene | Vehicle battery cases, bottle crates and transit trays |
Recycling plastics:
At present there are no collection points for plastics within County Durham but there are some within the North East region:
- Castle Morpeth: collection points for plastic bottles: 25 sites.
- Hartlepool: collection point for HDPs (eg plastic bags): civic community site.
- Newcastle: collection points for plastic bottles in the following carparks: Cowgate (Safeway); Gosforth (Asda); Heaton (Safeway) and Kingston Park (Tesco).
Otherwise try the following organisations:
- Pear Recycling: collects video and audio cassettes. Call 01325 320836 for details.
- Save A Cup Scheme: this organisation collects and recycles used polystyrene vending cups. Perhaps your school or office could invest in a purpose-designed collection bin (a Beca bin) to place next to a vending machine. Save A Cup can also supply a flaking machine to decrease the amount of storage that is needed. See www.save-a-cup.co.uk for further details.
Recycling Code for Plastics:- Do not assume or guess that you know what the polymer is - it is usually written somewhere, otherwise call the manufacturer and ASK.
- All plastics must be non-contaminated. That means that there must be no labels, dirt, paper, tape, leaves, paint, water, wood or metal.
Re-using and reducing plastics:
Ultimately we must reduce the amount of plastics that we use. Re-use can be achieved very easily. For instance most supermarkets have 'Bags for Life' schemes. These are heavyweight bags that you pay about 10p for and continually re-use. When you need a new one your worn-out bag can be replaced at the relevant supermarket. 'Bags for Life' are made from a combination of 25% of post consumer waste and 70% processed waste.
Plastic bottles, carrier bags and plastic containers can all be re-used (and used for storage). The top section of a large plastic pop bottle can be used to protect garden plants from frost and pests. Old yogurt pots can be used as containers for cultivating seeds in.
Buying Recycled Plastics
- Recycled plastic bottles can be made into the following products:
- PVC bottles: drainage pipes, electrical fittings and clothing
- PET bottles: fleece clothing, fibre for sleeping bags, duvets, pillows, anoraks, industrial strapping, tufting for carpets and rugs, hard wearing wall coverings, bottles and other packaging
- HDPE bottles: housewares, compost bins, garden furniture, kerbside recycling collection boxes, pipes and new bottles
Mobile Phones
The mobile phone industry estimates that there could already be as many as 2 million old, disused or broken mobile phones and increasing. Research suggests that consumers replace their handsets approximately every 2 years. Waste mobile phones should be recycled to avoid such a waste of resources and to deal with the toxic component (in batteries and components such as the LCD display).
There are a number of ways of recycling mobile phones. There is a national recycling initiative within the mobile phone industry with many phone companies and networks operating take- back schemes. You can also take your phone into a branch of Dixons.
You may want to consider supporting a charity. You can donate to a number of different charities through www.mobilephones4charity.com (Tel: 01372 824265); charities on their books include, among others, The Children's Centre, Teenage Cancer Trust, British Red Cross, British Lung Foundation and the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust. A similar scheme is also run by Child Advocacy International. Their CRUMP campaign (The Campaign to Recycle Unwanted Mobile Phones) supports a number of projects including: refurbishing children's wards in Bosnia, providing psychiatric help to children and their families traumatised by the war in Kosovo and teaching doctors and meeting the basic needs of AIDS orphans and abandoned babies in Uganda. A free collection can be arranged if you have at least 10 phones to donate. To arrange a collection call their freephone number: 0800 083 2103.
Mobile phone batteries
Some mobile phone network companies offer a collection and recycling service for used mobile phone batteries (to major customers, e.g. businesses, local councils etc.). Vodaphone are one of the networks which offer this service.
Telephone Directories
Phone directories and yellow pages should not be put into public recycling paper banks in County Durham (the glue in the spine and the yellow dye causes problems with the recycling process)
White 'phone directories can be put into all of the household kerbside collections in County Durham.
Please contact your local authority Recycling Officer for the current arrangements made for yellow pages recycling.
Where You Can Recycle
Charities
In addition to the district and borough councils, some charities also accept a range of products for re-use. You can take clothes, books, tapes and CDs to any highstreet charity. If you have many things to donate you can often arrange for them to collect free of charge. Some charities take materials for recycling to raise money.
Sunderland Community Recycling offer a similar service in the Wearside area (and will sometimes collect free of charge within a 15 mile radius of Sunderland). In addition to cans and office paper, they will also collect unwanted furniture for re-use in local charity projects.
Sunderland Community Recycling
Unit 13, Southwick Industrial Estate
North Hylton Road
Sunderland
SR5 3TX
Tel: 0191 549 4343
Butterwick Hospice at Bishop Auckland collect a range of materials for recycling. Aluminium cans and foil can be taken to their Woodhouse Lane site in Bishop Auckland (although they are happy to come and collect larger quantities of cans in their van). The hospice also has several newspaper recycling banks. All the proceeds from these banks go directly to the Hospice. These are located at:
- Spennymoor (Behind Ken Warne's Supermarket)
- Bishop Auckland (Woodhouse Lane Swimming Baths Car Park)
- Frosterly (Wards Garage, beside A689)
The Hospice also has arrangements to collect paper through several local schools, and co-ordinates a cardboard collection service for schools and businesses in the Bishop Auckland Area.
For more information contact Butterwick Hospice at Bishop Auckland on tel: 01388 603003.
SCOPE and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund accept printer and fax cartridges (see the 'Cartridges' section of this factsheet for details)
Kerbside Collections in County Durham
The following kerbside recycling collection schemes are currently in operation in County Durham. For more details contact your local district or borough council (see below for telephone numbers):
The "Kerb-it" Kerbside Collection Scheme
The "Kerb-it" scheme is a partnership between Durham County Council, Durham City Council, Chester-le-Street District Council and Sedgefield Borough Council. Premier Waste Management Ltd are the contractor for this scheme. Recyclable material is collected from households every two weeks. Residents are given a 55 litre green box in which they are being asked to collect:
- Paper - newspapers, magazines, junk mail (without the plastic windows in the envelopes), white telephone directories, catalogues,white and coloured paper.
- Glass - Bottles and jars (washed)
- Cans - Steel and aluminium food and drinks cans (washed and squashed) and aerosols.
Please visit
Kerb-it or
www.kerb-it.com for further information on the scheme.
The Green Box Recycling Scheme
The Green Box Recycling Scheme is also a kerbside collection scheme operated by Derwentside District Council, Teesdale District Council and Wear Valley District Council. Residents participating within this scheme can recycle the following materials:
- Newspapers, magazines, catalogues, brochures, junk mail, telephone directories and cardboard packaging
- Food tins, drinks cans, aerosol cans - clean and empty please
- Glass bottles and jars- any colour as long as they are clean and empty
- Clothing, bed linen, blankets, towels and shoes - please put these in the clear sack provided.
Easington District Council
Offer a kerbside collection once every 6 weeks (on request) of paper from about 75% of households.
Public Recycling Sites
If you are thinking about setting up a new recycling scheme, or have any queries on recycling in your area, you should contact your district or borough council and ask to speak to the person with responsibility for recycling.
Chester-le-Street District Council Tel: 0191 3711 040
Derwentside District Council Tel: 01207 218 931
City of Durham Council Tel: 0191 386 6111
District of Easington Council Tel: 0191 527 0501
Sedgefield Borough Council Tel: 01388 816 166
Teesdale District Council Tel: 01833 696 286
Wear Valley District Council Tel: 01388 765 555
The district and borough councils operate a number of public recycling sites.
Funding a Recycling Scheme
Durham County Council Recycling Credits
Did you know that Durham County Council has a scheme to pay community groups for collecting recyclable materials? The scheme, known as Recycling Credits, is a way of encouraging recycling. It works because Durham County Council has the responsibility of disposing of all household waste produced in the County. Disposing of this waste in landfill sites costs money - a cost which has increased rapidly in recent years with the introduction of the Landfill Tax. The more waste which can be recycled before it ever reaches the landfill site, the less money has to be spent on disposal costs. The amount paid to community groups (Recycling Credits) is the same as the equivalent landfill disposal cost.
In 2000/2001 10 community groups from across the County received a total of �21,223 pounds in Recycling Credits.
The scheme pays a fixed rate per tonne amount for the main recyclable materials (paper, glass, textiles and aluminium). There are two different rates in County Durham - which relate to the different waste disposal costs for those areas:
Chester-le-Street, Derwentside, Easington, Sedgefield, Teesdale �40.92 per tonne
Durham City, Wear Valley: �30.77 per tonne
The money is paid in addition to any money which the group might receive directly from the recycler, and does not vary according to the market price of the material to be recycled. This is particularly useful for encouraging the recycling of bulky material with a low commercial value (e.g. paper).
Interested? Here's how to get involved...
1. Contact Durham County Council:
John Smart
Environment & Technical Services Dept
Durham County Council
County Hall
DurhamDH1 5UQ
Tel: 0191 383 3828
to get a registration form and some claim forms.
2. Complete and return the registration form
3. Collect your material for recycling and arrange a collection by a recycling company (NB: the scheme is for household waste only)
4. Complete the claim form (which must be signed by the recycling company) and send it along with the weigh ticket back to Durham County Council
5. Receive your cheque!
Butterwick Hospice at Bishop Auckland regularly claim around �500 every month in recycling credits for their paper recycling scheme.
County Durham Environmental Trust Community Waste Fund
Community groups in County Durham, Darlington and Sunderland who are seeking funding for a recycling project can apply to the County Durham Environmental Trust Community Waste Fund. Grants of up to �2500 are available. For more information and an application form contact: County Durham Foundation (Tel: 0191 383 0055)
Money for Green Projects
There is a fund administered by the Civic Trust on behalf of the Government to support practical, community-led environmental initiatives. The minimum grant is �10,000 and requires matching funding that is raised from the private sector (therefore the smallest project will spend �20,000). Community groups have accomplished a number of environmental initiatives with this money (for example, recycling schemes, conservation and organic foods). The grants are usually given out annually and you are invited to submit bids in March. Call 0151 709 1969 for further details.
Buying Recycled - 'Closing the Loop'
Recycling cannot work if all it consists of is sending materials to a re-processor. Unless effort is made to buy recycled, recycling operations will have no market.
Some examples of the range of products produced from recycled materials is as follows: animal bedding, bags, bins, business stationary, cartridges, clothing, coasters, footwear, furniture (garden), housewares, jewelry boxes, lighting, paper, pens, plant trays, tissues, toys, watering cans and many more.
For more information on recycled products visit the 'Buy Recycled' campaign website at: www.buy-recycled.co.uk. This site also has a very comprehensive list of relevant links.
The National Recycling Federation have a recycled products website at www.nrf.org.uk with over 1000 products listed. If you would prefer a printed directory Waste Watch publish 'The UK Recycled Products Guide' for �24. Send a cheque to 'Waste Watch', UK Recycled Products Guide, Europa House, Ground Floor, 13-17 Ironmonger Row, London, ECIV 3QN for your copy.
Sources of Further Information and Advice
WasteWatch
'WasteWatch' is a national organisation which can offer detailed advice on a whole range of waste reduction and recycling issues. Phone their hotline (Tel: 0171 253 6266) or have a look a their excellent website at www.wastewatch.org.uk.
Environment Agency
The Environment Agency have produced a booklet 'Waste Minimisation and Recycling Guide' which gives detailed information (including contact details of lots of companies and organisations involved in recycling) relevant to the North East of England. The guide has recently been updated and is available free of charge from:
The Environment Agency
Tyneside House
Newcastle Business Park
Skinnerburn Road
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE4 7AR
Tel: 0191 203 4000
Community Recycling Network
The Community Recycling Network is the national umbrella organisation for 250 community groups, co-operatives and not-for-profit businesses in the community. For more information about the CRN please contact: Community Recycling Network, 10-12 Picton Street, Montpelier, Bristol, BS6 5QA Tel: 0117942 0142
Sharing Resources
'Sharing Resources' is a joint WasteWatch / Community Recycling Network project, which provides free specialist advice for community recycling schemes. For more details contact:
Sharing Resources
The CREATE Centre
Smeaton Road
Hotwells
Bristol
BS1 6XN
Tel: 0117 907 4088
Alupro
Alupro is the national Aluminium recycling organisation. Their newly launched Website (www.alupro.org.uk) is full of useful practical information on all aspects of aluminium recycling, including details on foil and can recycling.
If you find any of this information is incorrect, or know of any extra information which should be included - please let us know.
Durham County Council (Environment Section) on 0191 383 3361.
