Events in Bishop’s Castle have never really impacted much on the lives of people in Shrewsbury - but residents would be well-advised to keep a close eye on the south Shropshire town over the coming months.
The market town has been selected for an experiment which could make us think more deeply about the rubbish we regularly put out for collection.
The £10,000 Zero Waste Places pilot scheme was launched in October and looks at a variety of waste reduction and recycling initiatives.
As part of the project re-usable shopping bags have been handed out to 800 households and green guides have been put together promoting local businesses which supply green goods or services.
But the real talking point is the appointment of an independent research company to examine what residents on certain streets have put in their bins.
The waste composition analysis will help to identify ‘problem materials’ being sent to landfill unnecessarily and the quantities of plastic, metal and food waste being put out for collection.
It is aimed at helping to reach a target of sending just 35 per cent of waste to landfill by 2020.
The analysis involves groups of specially-appointed, independent consultants targeting specific housing areas each week where they will take samples of rubbish – not the entire bin contents – and will eventually cover the whole of an area such as Bishop’s Castle. The samples will then be taken to depots where the research consultants will sift through rubbish, sorting it by both material and weight, to identify problem materials that keep cropping up and then initiatives can be looked at to maximise recycling. This could include awareness campaigns.
An example of problem waste already identified in Bishop’s Castle is wood chippings, thought to be because of the rural location of the pilot scheme.
Update
Then the process will be started again with new samples taken from bins, to update findings and determine if waste rates have improved after the targeted awareness campaigns.
But critics claim it amounts to spying on residents. Peter Adams, who is a Shropshire councillor for Bowbrook, said: “The regional collection figures are well within the targets we have set ourselves and this scheme is basically a money making proposal to line someone’s coffers which will make marginal differences whilst making everyone feel like a criminal.”
So how do council officials respond in the face of such criticism?
Larry Wolfe, head of waste management at Shropshire Council, says the people of Shropshire want to recycle more and have already made steps in the direction of realising the ‘zero waste’ utopia.
He said: “People tell us that they want to recycle more so we are looking at ways of reducing as much waste produced in the first place, and creating zero waste is a long-term goal.
“The aim of the scheme is to change behaviours and habits although Shropshire residents have already come a long way and we are one of the leading authorities in the country for recycling and composting.”
Mark Foxall, policy and development manager for the piloted project, said: “It was announced in 2007 that we would be moving towards trying to create zero waste because currently it is unsustainable and if we don’t change things we would require three planets to live on.
“With approximately 1,000 tons of waste in Bishop’s Castle alone, if we can reduce that by up to six per cent then it will make significant savings in the cost of going to landfill, which has risen from £48 to £72 per ton in recent times.”
Some initiatives encompassing the Zero Waste Places scheme are already in operation elsewhere in the county, and under the pilot Shropshire Council is required to visit six schools and five public events to raise awareness.
Mr Wolfe said: “There are high performance rates in the county and people are very receptive to the idea’s we are trying to promote but everyone can always do more which is where we come in with awareness campaigns and interaction with the community.
“The waste composition analysis is a great way of gathering more information so that we can identify problem materials to increase recycling rates. By working together we can drive down waste disposal costs.”
By David Seadon
