PR 2340
HAMPSHIRE EXCEEDS GOVERNMENT RECYCLING TARGETS
Thanks to the efforts of local residents, Hampshire has successfully exceeded the Government's target to recycle or compost 30 per cent of rubbish by 2005/06, achieving a recycling rate of 30.3 per cent for 2004/05 - and according to figures released by Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), Hampshire remains amongst the best in the country for recycling household rubbish.
In 2004/05, local authorities in Hampshire dealt with 660,500 tonnes and over half of the material was either recycled or had energy recovered from it.
One of the most striking changes over the last year has been a drop in the amount landfilled. The use of landfill has been declining slowly in Hampshire over the last decade, but since 2002 the proportion has dropped by almost half, from 80 per cent to just 46 per cent. Projections for the current year point to the landfill rate reducing further to around 25 per cent as new recycling and energy recovery facilities are introduced.
Hampshire County Council's Executive Member for Environment, Councillor Tim Knight, said: "Hampshire residents are doing a tremendous job by recycling their rubbish, and with over 95 per cent of households now receiving a regular kerbside collection of recyclables such as newspapers, plastic bottles, and food and drinks cans, it's never been easier to get recycling. We now need to build on this success and encourage even more people to make recycling part of their every day behaviour and recycle more of their rubbish, more often."
With a target to achieve 50 per cent recycling by 2010, Hampshire's authorities are not resting on their laurels, with the recycling rate for the first quarter of 2005/06 already hitting almost 33 per cent, and it is set to keep rising due to a number of new initiatives, including:
· The high profile, Recycle for Hampshire campaign launched earlier this year. With funding from the Waste and Resources Action Programme, the campaign aims to encourage Hampshire residents to recycle more of the right materials more often. The multi-media campaign has included a range of advertising, a new customer-focused website www.recycleforhampshire.org.uk, articles, leaflets, an education programme and visits by Recycling Advisors to provide residents with help and advice about recycling.
· A new state-of-the-art Materials Recovery Facility was officially opened in Alton in July and together with the facility in Portsmouth, now means that we can process almost 160,000 tonnes of recyclables collected from households in Hampshire.
· Following the expansion of Little Bushy Warren composting site near Basingstoke, one of three composting facilities in Hampshire, we are now able to process in excess of 100,000 tonnes of green garden waste and turn it into the organic soil conditioner Pro Grow. Garden waste is collected from Hampshire's 26 Household Waste Recycling Centres and in some areas via green waste kerbside collection schemes.
· New or expanded collections systems are being introduced in Eastleigh, Fareham, Havant and Hart and new green waste collection schemes have been introduced in New Forest, Rushmoor and Test Valley.
· Major improvements are also planned for the Household Waste Recycling Centres at Basingstoke and Segensworth, which are due to be completed by March 2006.
Cllr Knight added: "These figures show that Hampshire continues to be at the forefront when it comes to recycling and managing waste, largely thanks to the support of local residents. However, we are far from complacent and know that we need to continue to work together in order to achieve the 50 per cent recycling rate by 2010."
ENDS
Issued by: Sarette Martin on 01962 847666 or sarette.martin@hants.gov.uk