Plastics Recycling
Our recycling service does not currently include plastics,
although we are constantly looking at ways to provide a cost
effective service. The cost of collecting plastics for
recycling is very expensive, which would add greatly to the
borough's Council Tax. A recent pilot scheme, run by Kent
County Council for two years, proved neither financially or
environmentally sustainable.
We do take environmental concerns very seriously and have been
working to reduce the amount of waste going into landfill for a
long time.
All domestic rubbish from Ashford, including plastic, is
now taken to the power-from-waste generator at Allington. By
creating energy from waste Ashford is helping to reduce the
reliance on fossil fuels and the production of methane from
landfill. It means that your waste will not contribute to landfill,
but will be used to provide energy for the national grid.
Other Local Authorities have their own processing
facilities that allow collections of many types of recycling to be
sorted and sent away to be made into other items, but even this has
a high ‘carbon footprint’ in terms of transport, with consignments
going to either the north of England or the Far East. At the
present time some far eastern countries are declining some plastics
as their processing plants are running at full capacity, this is
resulting in vast amounts of plastic being stored whilst
alternative markets are sought.
Putting your plastic waste in with your normal household refuse
for weekly collection is the most environmentally and economically
sustainable solution at the moment.
Look up your weekly refuse collection day on our Waste and Recycling
webpage.
Buy Greener
You can reduce the amount of plastic waste by choosing to buy
goods in more eco-friendly packaging.
Why not..
- Go back to buying milk in bottles from the Milkman that
can be returned
- Buy loose vegetables and other produce, or goods with less
packaging
- Support small local retailers who tend to use less
packaging and sell local produce, reducing the carbon
footprint
- Take your own reusable shopping bags
- Buy drinks in cans or cartons instead of plastic
A Rough Guide of the Cost of Recycling Plastics
The price paid for plastics ranges from £90 to £240 per tonne
delivered to the processor. The cost of a collection vehicle
and crew is in the region of £500 per day and this will collect
between one tonne and one and a half tonnes. The plastics
then have to be separated into their various types before being
transported to the end user, the cost of which must be added to the
collection costs. It is more environmentally sustainable to
buy your goods in alternative containers such as glass,
cardboard or metal in the first place!
This webpage was updated on
4/29/2010