Kent sends less than one per cent of its rubbish to landfill sites but recycling rates in the county are “stagnating”.
That’s according to the latest figures contained in a new Kent County Council (KCC) report before the Environment and Transport Cabinet Committee which met today (Jan 14) and shows the county is outperforming the rest of the country.
KCC spends more than £50million on reprocessing residual waste in the county
KCC spends more than £50million on reprocessing residual waste in the county, 90% of which is collected kerbside by the local authorities.
Collecting and recycling Kent residents’ rubbish will become an important part of the rrestructure coming as a result of sweeping reforms to be introduced following the government’s English devolution programme.
The papers state: “KCC is landfilling less than 1% of the waste collected in Kent, which is outperforming the average across both England and the South East.”
Kent was sending more than 25% to landfill 15 years ago but since then some of the waste, which cannot be repurposed, is sent for incineration to create new energy.
The Kent Enviropower facility at Allington, near Maidstone, claims it can produce 43 megawatts of electricity – enough to power 60,000 homes.
The council papers say: “It shows that Kent’s recycling rate of 42% is marginally higher than the average rate across England but is lagging behind the average across the south east.
“The best performing counties in the south east are Surrey and West Sussex where the recycling rates are 54% and 53.7% respectively.”
Since 2010-11, the lowest performing council area has increased its recycling rates from 14% to 24%.
The best performer in the county raised its recycling results from 46% to 51%, leaving a 27% difference between the best and the worst in Kent.
The KCC documents show the rising amount of residual waste and “stagnating” recycling rates within Kent have put pressure on KCC’s ability to deliver statutory waste services within budget.
Council officers told members that recycling rates are on the wane. Picture: James Mackenzie
But council officers told members that recycling rates are on the wane across the country, caused in part by manufacturers’ efforts to reduce the weight of packaging.
While the volume remains roughly the same, the tonnage has dropped.
The papers note: “If the recycling rate in Kent moved from 42% to 60%, it would reduce the amount of residual waste needing to be reprocessed, saving KCC an estimated £11m per year.
“The material with the greatest potential saving is food waste. With a significant difference in disposal fees, the potential saving from moving all food and garden waste that is in our residual waste stream into composting would save KCC c£8m.”
KCC faced hostile criticism when it emerged the cash-strapped council – faced with having to find tens of millions of pounds because of budget shortfalls – proposed shutting a number of household waste recycling centres (HWRCs). Those moves were put on hold.
Protests about plans to close Kent County Council recycling centres were held outside County Hall in Maidstone. Photo: Simon Finlay
Recent legislation will see the largest changes to services in three decades.
For instance, from March next year, kerbside collections must include the collection of glass, metal, plastic, paper, card, food waste and garden waste for recycling or composting from households. Green collection charges stay in place.
The papers note: “Dartford Borough Council and Sevenoaks District Council will need to introduce food waste collections as a result of this legislation. It is estimated that this will save KCC in the region of £820,000 per year as a result of food waste moving from residual waste into composting.”
The committee chairman, Conservative Cllr Sean Holden said: “People will say that our landfill numbers are low because we send stuff to be incinerated.
“But it’s the old dilemma – do we burn it and get the energy from the waste or do we bury it in landfill? It’s a tricky one.
“But what Kent can point to is that we also have a good recycling rate and we are always trying to do better.”
Cllr Sean Holden, of Kent County Council
Green Party spokesman Stuart Jeffery said there is a greater need to focus on the wider issues.
He added: “The council is not tackling the problems upstream because of the appalling amount of packaging still being used – and that worries me.”
Most members agreed that education remains a key factor in improving recycling rates.
Labour Cllr Mel Dawkins said it is not always easy for people who live in blocks of flats to do their bit when they find the communal bins are full.
Conservative Cllr Harry Rayner urged a re-think on how paper and card are stored before collection as they invariably get wet, reducing their value.
He suggested covered boxes would help retain the commercial benefit.
Harry Rayner proposed coverd boxes for paper and card
KCC officer Matt Smyth acknowledged there will be changes to kerbside collection once Kent’s 14 local authorities are abolished and replaced by a smaller number of larger unitary bodies, perhaps encompassing up to four current council districts.
But he said he would be “dumbfounded” if transitional arrangements were not put in place to ensure residents did not suffer breaks in collection services.
Kent Enviropower sorts separated materials for recycling and recovers energy from non-hazardous waste.
It can process up to 550,000 tonnes a year of mixed waste for energy recovery and a further 65,000 tonnes of separated materials suitable for recycling.