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How millions of tons of household rubbish collected for recycling disappears without trace
Last updated at 02:47am on 05.09.08
Recycling: But where does it go?
Millions of tons of rubbish carefully sorted into recycling bins by householders may never actually be recycled, town hall chiefs admitted.
Many of the council bosses who impose compulsory recycling regimes on their residents have no idea what happens to the refuse after the dustcarts have collected it.
They simply hand it over to contractors who never reveal where it goes and how it is disposed of.
The admission by leaders of the Local Government Association, the umbrella body for councils, confirmed longstanding suspicions of critics, and brought protests from campaigners and pressure groups who have opposed the spread of fortnightly rubbish collections in the name of enforcing recycling and saving the environment.
Doretta Cocks, of the Campaign for Weekly Waste Collection, said: 'This is a dreadful admission. People believe that whatever they put in their recycling bins is recycled - but in reality the councils can't cope.
'They do not abide by their own rules.'
The LGA said that councils do not have powers to force contractors who take away waste to say where it is going.
Its chief, Paul Bettison, told council leaders to 'review' where their recycled rubbish is going.
He also appealed to the Environment Agency for new rules to compel contractors to discuss the destination of waste.
LGA officials said 200 councils are certain of where rubbish sorted for recycling ends up. Another 20 have acknowledged they do not know.
That leaves 135 councils which have not confirmed they know what happens to their rubbish.
A number of councils have been caught sending carefully sorted material put out for recycling to landfill sites.
Others use contractors who send waste to foreign and Third World countries.
Turkey and China are leading destinations. Other consignments go to countries including Guinea, Ghana, Libya, Azerbaijan and Vietnam, where waste is supposed to be recycled but there are few checks on what is done with it.
Latest figures on domestic rubbish collections show more than a third, 34 per cent, is recycled and ministers have proclaimed that Britain is on course to hit EU targets.
However, the figure applies only to waste collected from homes. It does not cover what councils do with it.
Reader views (9)
What is the financial incentive for a contractor to not recycle pre-sorted recyclables, and instead to pay to have it put in landfill? There is none. Unless organised crime is taking money from councils and then fly-tipping the waste, it will be recycled because land-filling it costs more.
There may be short-term problems when the amount of recyclables collected exceeds the capacity available to recycling companies. In that case we'll see recyclables temporarily sent to landfill by the council, until the contractors are able to expand their capacity. It's still progress in the right direction, just slower than one might like.
Incidentally, an incinerator fed with sorted recyclable waste would not emit pollution like one accepting any rubbish. I don't see recycling waste into electricity as a bad idea. A large part of it (paper) is even renewable.
- Nigel, London, 05/09/2008 14:45
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Due to the rise in commodity prices waste is far too valuable to throw into landfill.
- Peter, London, 05/09/2008 14:08
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I live in Brent - we were told that from 4th August recycling was compulsory. They have yet to collect ours without us ringing them to ask when the collection is happening (supposed to be on a Tuesday). I think they only said they are doing it to stick with guidelines but have no intentions of following it up. I have no problem with taking stuff to the recycling areas but its the blatant lack of effort by Brent that is annoying.
- Sal, London, 05/09/2008 12:29
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Well, unless a council can prove it's recycling, I suggest an immediate fine of £110 x number of people on the electoral register for each and every offending council! Anyone against?
- Marianne, SW France, 05/09/2008 11:25
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Another farce. All looks good on paper, but what is actually happening in truth? Contractors take the money and dump it inappropriately some place more like. Such much for looking after our planet as a legacy for our children.
- Bill, London, UK, 05/09/2008 11:08
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Kind of figured this out about 6 years ago. We moved to London Borough that provided clear recycling bags. On bin day, these were promptly slung in the same dustcart as our domestic refuse. They later colour coded the bags as they were apparently difficult to spot amongst the other squashed refuse at the 'recycling centre'. The orange bags we carefully fill with our recycling are still chucked in the same dustcart - destination landfill (somewhere in China...) The next revelation will be that your supermarket organic veg is grown alongside the value veg... Shock, horror!
- Jim, London, 05/09/2008 10:45
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Oh, no! And to think that I actually believed what our council told us. I feel SO let down...
- Ian, Twickenham, UK, 05/09/2008 10:39
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Good grief: surely not?! I am shaken to the core of my cynical self!
- Roz, Chamonix, France, 05/09/2008 09:33
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Kinda makes the fines they can impose for failing to recycle even more of a rip-off, doesn't it!
- Rogan, DFW TX, 05/09/2008 05:37
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