Surge in waste recycling over Christmas

On two days Cherwell’s crews collected almost double the normal weight of recycling

Figures just out show a significant rise in recycling in the Cherwell District over the Christmas and New Year period, in comparison to the same time in 2019.  

During the two weeks there was a 30 per cent spike in the weight of items put into the blue bin.   Cherwell’s crews collected 613 tonnes – 141 tonnes more than the same period of the previous year.

At the same time green bin weights only increased by seven per cent, from 1208 to 1297 tonnes.

Councillor Dan Sames, Lead Member for Clean and Green, said: “With most of us spending this Christmas at home, there was a considerable increase in the amount of cardboard, paper and plastic we all disposed of in our blue bins. Given the increase in internet shopping this is hardly surprising.

Fortunately, this increase was not matched by an increase in residual waste that we put in our green bins. This shows that all of us as residents are doing our best to recycle our waste.”

Both January 8 and 9 were particularly heavy days for Cherwell crews; they collected over 90 tonnes of recycling on each day. This was approaching double the weights they empty from the blue bins on a typical day.

In the coming weeks, the council is encouraging people to recycle any electronics that have lost their spark by placing them in a carrier bag on top of any of their bins, on their normal collection day. Any device that fits into a standard-sized carrier bag, for instance a toaster or microwave, will be accepted.

Cllr Sames added: “We’ve made a great start to recycling in 2021, and we’re now encouraging everyone to keep up the good work for the rest of the year. We should also thank all our refuse collection crews and street cleaners for their continued efforts in these trying times.”

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Published: 20/01/2021 06:00am by Banbury FM Newsteam

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