13/06/2013 - Permalink

Shropshire marks 10 years of recycling improvements

Related topics: Community / Partner organisations

Ten years ago – in 2003 – Concorde made its last flight, the M6 toll road opened, England won the rugby world cup, and the first ever national recycling week was held to encourage people across the UK to recycle more of their household waste.

At that time, in Shropshire, the household recycling rate in what was then the Shropshire County Council area was just 14%. But work was underway to improve this figure and that year alternate weekly collections of waste and recycling were introduced in the county for the first time, in the Oswestry area.

Jump forward 10 years and thanks to further huge improvements in Shropshire’s waste and recycling services and facilities, and people’s increasing willingness to recycle their household waste, the recycling rate in what is now the Shropshire Council area is now over 50%.

Since 2003, five new household recycling centres (HRCs) have opened – in Shrewsbury, Oswestry, Bridgnorth, Whitchurch and Craven Arms; kerbside collections of paper, glass, cans and plastic have been introduced across Shropshire; and there are now more than 100 recycling banks across the county.

Every year in the Shropshire Council area there are more than 10 million individual waste and recycling collections, and more than 750,000 visits to Shropshire’s five recycling centres – at each of which more than 30 different materials can now be recycled.

Shropshire Council’s waste management services are delivered by the council’s waste contractor Veolia Environmental Services and, to mark national recycling week 2013 (17 to 23 June), both organisations have welcomed the improvements made in the past 10 years, and hope future years will see things improve still further.

Councillor Steve Charmley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member responsible for waste management, said:

“In a relatively short period of time we have seen a huge improvement in the amount of waste that is recycled in Shropshire, and the services and facilities that the council offers to residents to make it easier for them to recycle.
“Though Shropshire Council and Veolia provide and deliver the services, we would not have seen such a big increase in our recycling rate without the efforts of local people, so we have to thank them for their efforts and encourage them to keep up the good work to help us increase this figure even further.
“Recycling our waste, and keeping it out of landfill sites, is good for the environment, but also saves the council, and Council Tax payers, a lot of money every year.”

Jon Callaghan, General Manager for Veolia in Shropshire, said:

“Since Veolia took over the contract to manage Shropshire’s household waste in 2007, residents in Shropshire have seen a number of improvements to their waste and recycling services.  Based on the strong partnership with Shropshire Council, we are confident in seeing lots more improvements in the next 10 years.”

For more information about waste and recycling services in the Shropshire Council area, visit www.recycleforshropshire.com.

Further information

Ten years of waste and recycling in Shropshire – a brief history

  • 2004 – Total household waste in Shropshire peaked at 183,000 tonnes per annum (this has gone down every year since, and has now fallen by more than 16%).
  • 2004 – Following the closure of Aldon landfill site, the first modern waste transfer station was constructed at Craven Arms business park which allowed the development of the first modern Household Recycling Centre.
  • 2004 – The new Household Recycling Centre opens in Craven Arms
  • December 2004 – A new Household Recycling Centre opens in Whitchurch
  • 2004 – Shropshire County Council and all Shropshire’s district and borough councils (except Shrewsbury & Atcham Borough Council) form Shropshire Waste Partnership (SWP) and begin working together to improve waste services.
  • February 2005 – A new Household Recycling Centre and waste transfer station opens at Battlefield in Shrewsbury.
  • 2005 – The household recycling rate reaches 27% in the Shropshire County Council area.
  • 2005 – Shrewsbury (Betton Abbots) landfill site / recycling site closes.
  • October 2005 – Shropshire’s first food waste collection service is set up in the North Shropshire District Council area.
  • 2006 – The household recycling rate hits 37.3% in the Shropshire County Council area.
  • April 2007 – South Shropshire District Council is rated second in the entire country after recycling over 56% of its household waste.
  • September 2007 – Shropshire Waste Partnership signs a 27-year PFI contract with Veolia to invest over £100m in waste infrastructure and provide domestic waste services to the people of Shropshire.
  • October 2008 – Shrewsbury & Atcham Borough Council joins Shropshire Waste Partnership (SWP).
  • April 2009 – SWP becomes the waste management service of the new Shropshire Council.
  • October 2009 – A new Household Recycling Centre and waste transfer station opens in Oswestry.
  • 2010 – Shropshire’s household recycling rate exceeds 50% for the first time: meaning more is being reused, recycled and composted than is going to landfill.
  • March 2012 – A new fully-integrated Household Recycling Centre/vehicle depot and waste transfer station opens in Bridgnorth.