Member Article

J&B Recycling offers advice on festive waste

J&B Recycling has urged householders to think carefully about disposing of the Christmas waste ahead of the festive period.

Between Christmas and New Year, residents across the UK generate around 30 per cent more waste than they do during the rest of the year.

Mark Penny, Commercial Manager at J&B Recycling, says following the correct procedures will reduce the chances of waste being incorrectly disposed of.

He said: “We all generate more waste than normal at this time of year, with food, packaging, cards and the Christmas tree all being thrown out.

“Obviously an artificial Christmas tree dramatically reduces waste, but for those who buy real trees then they can either be taken to a household waste centre where they will be recycled into compost, or some local authorities may provide may provide a bulky waste if contacted. .

“A lot of waste is also generated through cards and wrapping paper. Cards can go in the kerbside collection, and the supermarkets also offer recycling facilities over the Christmas and New Year period.

“Some wrapping paper can be recycled, though foil and plastic wrapping paper cannot and should not be placed into the recycling bin. Last year there were problems at a number of Bring Sites in the Tees Valley with hundreds of tonnes of rubbish being dumped at the sites on the Boxing Day alone.

“Because of this, the councils have had to initiate a series of measures including a warning to people not to dump at the sites, have added CCTV, plus engaging security patrols to try and prevent a reoccurrence.

He added: “The final message would be concerning food waste, and that can be reduced by smarter shopping. We always tend to buy too much at this time of year, but by planning meals we can cut down on wastage. All leftover food must go into the general waste or dedicated food waste container where provided and not the recycling bin.”

Mark says if people are more efficient, then the impact will benefit local authorities that have to deal with on-going austerity measures in the New Year.

“This is a good time of year to look at how much of an impact we can all have on getting recycling right – and the cost of getting it wrong.”

Persistent contamination of the kerbside recycling bin by householders places the viability of local recycling services under threat. When valuable recyclables end up being contaminated and can’t be recycled there is an additional cost to dispose of them.

This unnecessary spending on waste by a council could displace investment in schools, infrastructure or social care.

This Christmas therefore, as many council’s continue to consider efficiency savings, it’s a good time for householders to appreciate how they can help their council get collections right, and the impact on cost of getting it wrong,

In return the authorities do everything they can to make recycling as easy and as accessible as possible, and are not doubt grateful l to those resident who do make the effort because they’re making a difference.

He added: “In England over the last 12 months, the recycling rate rose by 0.2 per cent to 44.7 per cent. It’s an improvement, but it shows the ongoing challenge for the waste sector and local authorities to reach the target of 50 per cent by 2020.

J&B Recycling employs almost 200 staff and recycles approximately 120,000 tonnes of waste each year from household, commercial, industrial and construction sources with commercial customers including car parts manufacturer Nifco UK, Camerons Brewery and thousands of community buildings, pubs and restaurants.

For more advice on how to handle your Christmas waste, call the J&B Recycling team on 01429 241002.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ian Willis .