Effective recycling doesn't need multiple waste bins, says Friends of the Earth Cymru

17 February 2011

Commenting on today's Taxpayers Alliance survey of the number of bins that each council asks residents to sort their rubbish into, the Director of Friends of the Earth Cymru, Gordon James, said:
 
"Recycling is hugely popular, with over 80 per cent of households satisfied with their waste and recycling service.
 
"While some people are frustrated by complicated sorting systems, the Taxpayers Alliance is missing the point - we don't need lots of bins to have a good recycling service.
 
"In the simplest, cheapest and most effective services the bin men sort recyclables from one or two bins into multi-compartment trucks so householders don't have to. By sorting it this way, the quality of the waste is better and the councils get paid more for it.
 
"Burying and burning rubbish is hugely expensive and unpopular, costing councils cash that they then can't spend maintaining vital public services. It's also important to remember that recycling waste creates around ten times more jobs than dumping it in landfill sites or burning it in incinerators"

For further information, please contact Friends of the Earth Cymru on 029 2022 9577