Agenda item
NORTH LONDON WASTE AUTHORITY
Minutes:
Barbara Herridge, External Relations Manager for North London Waste Authority, gave a presentation on how waste is recycled and the services available to residents. Residents were informed that electrical items can be recycled for free by calling 0800 0851050.
Barbara suggested residents look at the following websites for more information for waste services:
· www.bywaters.co.uk/downloads/video/bywaters-secret-life-of-rubbish/
· www.enfield.gov.uk/info/415/asbestos/586/asbestos
Barbara Herridge, NLWA – Notes from meeting
What happens to your recycling and the impact of contamination
· NLWA – a statutory joint waste disposal authority, manages the waste collected by seven north London boroughs, Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington and Waltham Forest.
· Set up after the abolition of the Greater London Council (GLC) – has 14 councillors, two per constituent borough, meet 5 times per year. More information at http://www.nlwa.gov.uk/home
· In terms of waste functions we carry out the role that a county council would do elsewhere in the country – boroughs or districts collect the waste, the waste disposal authority or county organises the disposal.
· Boroughs only have to send residual waste, that which is left over from after recycling, to the waste authority for disposal but we work together with boroughs on waste reduction, re-use and recycling as well, because there are economies of scale in doing so. For example we arrange for a single contract for the collection, re-use and recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) across the north London area (this service is paid for by producers).
· We also arrange for the sorting and recycling of recyclable material collected by six boroughs. We don’t actually organise the recycling for Enfield, but your recycling goes the same Materials Recycling Facility as that which we use for some of the other north London boroughs so I can talk about some of the general issues around recycling, what happens to it and why contamination is a problem.
· After the recycling is picked up from your house it goes to a Materials Recycling Facility or MRF (pronounced ‘murf’) which is where the material gets sorted out into the different components such as paper, metal, different types of plastic etc.
· The MRF that is used by Enfield is at Edmonton and run by a company called Biffa Waste Services.
· NLWA also has a contract with Biffa, but additionally uses a MRF in Bow in East London, run by a company called Bywaters. Biffa doesn’t have a video of the Edmonton MRF on their website but if you want to see how a MRF operates take a look at the Bywaters’ website www.bywaters.co.uk and there are a couple of videos on their http://www.bywaters.co.uk/downloads/video.aspx - the ‘secret life of rubbish’ video which follows the journey of a can from being thrown in the recycling bin on its way to the MRF is good, whilst the other two videos on the website show the MRF process in more detail.
· It is at the MRF that we usually see the impact of contamination, because up to that point it’s quite difficult for the collection crews to see exactly what has gone in the bin. For example if a bin is unusually heavy the crew might suspect that the bin contains something like rubble which shouldn’t be in there, but otherwise it’s difficult for them to tell. The picture being circulated shows contamination of a load of garden waste for composting – this has just been tipped out at the composting plant.
· The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has recently conducted its 3Rs Tracking Survey 2014 (3Rs Tracking Survey 2014 Recycling attitudes and reported behaviour). www.wrap.org.uk
· The Tracker survey from December 2014 is particularly interesting as it covers such things as the proportion of households claiming to dispose of items in the bin that could be recycled kerbside but it also assesses the proportion of households who are contaminating recycling collections with materials that shouldn’t be in the recycling. Please see figure 6 below.
Source: 3Rs Tracking Survey 2014 Recycling attitudes and reported behaviour, WRAP, 2014
· So at a national level a significant number of people are putting things in the recycling that shouldn’t be there – contamination.
Why is contamination a problem?
o If it gets collected and sorted, before it is identified as a contaminant, then there’s been a wasted time and effort of collecting something that isn’t going to be recycled - a cost to both the collection and disposal authority.
o It also has to be disposed of which is a further cost.
o It reduces the recycling rate – because the contaminants often cannot be recycled.
o Some contaminants are dangerous – such as needles
o Or they cause problems with the machinery in the MRF – for example textiles can get wrapped around the machinery and old video cassettes with the tape inside can also cause problems. The tape inside gets everywhere in the machinery, so whilst the plastic casing may be recyclable the contents of the cassette cause problems.
o If the contamination is particularly bad this may result in the whole load being rejected and the cost charged to the borough.
o Contamination may also result in a lower price being paid for the material coming out of the MRF. Although the MRFs will sort to a specification that they know they will get a good price for, consistent contamination may mean that a MRF cannot meet the secondary material standards that it was previously working to. In times of low global commodity prices it is ever more important that contamination is kept to a minimum.
o The best way of thinking about a MRF is like any factory making a product, they are making a product be that paper for paper mills or plastic for plastic fibre to be made into new fleeces. However, if the raw materials going in aren’t good, then the product won’t be either. The better quality ingredients going in (i.e. the less the contamination going in), the better the quality of the end product/recycling material coming out.
· Why do people contaminate?
o Genuinely don’t know what should go in their bin
o In a rush – or forget
o Different people in the household
o Visitors to stay
o Most common contaminants in the dry recycling tend to be textiles and food waste.
· What can we do about it?
o Spot contamination at the kerbside
o Increase our communication – Rochdale’s ‘Right stuff. Right bin.’ Campaign is an example. The campaign started in September 2013 to highlight contamination in bins. The campaign involved door knocking (knocking on peoples’ doors to talk about recycling), leaflet distribution and advertising. Recycling crews also left a ‘Right stuff. Right bin.’ tag on bins that contained the correct items, thanking residents for recycling correctly or a red ‘Wrong stuff. Wrong bin.’ tag to let residents know they had got it wrong and to remind them which items can go in each bin. Recycling officers also go through the ‘wrong’ bins with residents to help them in their correct use.
o The results were outstanding with contamination reduced by 61% for comingled recycling and reductions seen in other materials streams too. Among the target audience the recycling rate for comingled recycling waste increased by 49% and for paper and card it increased by 7%. Following the success of the campaign it was rolled out across Greater Manchester, the overall results are to be finalised in May 2015.
o Our (NLWA) research also shows that people want tips on how to recycle better so this is something that we’re looking at for later this year.
o More reporting by the MRFs is also being introduced. January is when the first reports have had to be submitted by MRF operators to the Environment Agency who regulate what we do. So the MRFs are now having to report about their process of sampling and contamination levels they are seeing.
o Make recycling easier – difficulty of different systems across different areas and different guidance can make it more difficult if people move from one area to another with different recycling systems in place at each.
· Where does it go and what does it get made into after the MRF?
o NLWA’s ‘Wise Up to Waste’ website www.wiseuptowaste.org.uk shows the end destinations for each recycling material. This may not be correct for Enfield but it will provide an indication of what happens to the material across the rest of north London.
o What does it get made into? There’s lots of recycled products that need secondary material – paper can get made into new paper, glass into road surfaces and food waste to compost. Standards for end products are also very important in this regard. For example the standard for compost made from recycled food and garden waste is called PAS 100. The compost we make at the Edmonton EcoPark where we take a lot of north London’s garden and kitchen waste makes PAS 100 certified compost which gives farmers and gardeners reassurance about the quality of this product. It means they feel confident in buying ‘secondary’ material made from recycled kitchen and garden waste in the same way as they would feel confident buying a compost made from virgin raw materials such as peat.
· Conclusions
o Please keep recycling – thank you for doing so.
o If you’re not sure whether something is recyclable or not – ask your local council
o We hope that the messages are clear and easy to follow
o Contamination is not such a big a problem in north London as it is in some other areas, but the better the quality of recycling the better it is for us all.
o The take home message - it does make a difference if you recycle and recycle right.
Contact:
Barbara.herridge@nlwa.gov.uk or telephone: 020 8489 5654