RECYCLING AND REFUSE
Recycling: Aiming high
It will be easier than ever to recycle soon after Ealing Council approved a switch
to mixed recycling wheelie bins. The borough will also change to alternate weekly
collections of rubbish and recycling.
T
Food waste will still be collected each week
We need to cut how much is sent to landfill
28
around ealing
Autumn 2015
he changes should come into
effect by next summer and the
simpler mixed recycling service
will make it easier for people
to recycle and help the borough reach
the council’s target of recycling 50% of
household waste by 2018.
It is a system that has been introduced
in many other parts of the country,
including in the neighbouring boroughs
of Brent and Harrow, which have seen
recycling rates rise by 12% and 22%
respectively following the switch.
Most households with doorstep
refuse and recycling collections will be
given two wheelie bins:
■ One for mixed recycling. With the
exception of food waste, you will no
longer be required to sort recycling
into separate containers, but can place
it all in one wheelie bin which will be
collected every other week
■ One for the refuse which is currently
disposed of in black sacks. This wheelie
bin will be collected every other week,
in-between recycling collections.
Food waste would continue to be
collected from the food waste bins
every week. And garden waste will
continue to be collected fortnightly.
KEEPING IT SIMPLE
Councillor Bassam Mahfouz, cabinet
member for transport, environment and
leisure, said: “Many people agree that
action is needed to increase recycling
rates for environmental reasons
because rubbish is a major contributor
to greenhouse gases and also a waste
of precious resources. Many others will
agree with it for financial reasons. We
spent £8million last year on charges for
sending household rubbish to landfill
and these charges are likely to rise. At
a time when we have to make savings
across all of our services, it’s obvious
that this is an enormous waste of
money when we can recycle more.
“We have looked carefully at how other
local authorities have achieved higher