Recycling Blog

Pervez helps Punjabi speaking residents find out how to recycle their food waste

Wed, 12 May 2010 16:24:00 +0100

It has been a pleasure participating in the video guide about food waste recycling. My friends and family members are really excited to see me as an Asian community 'star' spreading the word out in the Punjabi speaking Asian community in a simple and understandable manner.

I have met a number of people who have seen this guide and their first comment was, "Excellent! Pendle Council has done a wonderful job by putting the Punjabi, Polish and English videos on the internet." It's our way of giving everyone who lives in an area on our food waste recycling collections the best chance of understanding how to recycle their food waste and taking part.

Some people have asked me why their street is not included in the current scheme. I've explained to them that it's currently an introductory scheme targeting 7,000 households across Nelson, Colne, Earby, Barnoldswick, Barrowford and Brierfield.

If anyone who isn't included in the scheme at the moment wants to register their interest in food waste recycling, you can go to this page on our website ./forms/form/138/register_your_interest_in_our_food_waste_recycling_scheme and add your details.

Things are going well so far. On average we're collecting more than one and a half tonnes of food waste per day. This indicates that people are already enthusiastic about recycling their food waste. People understand the importance of food waste recycling as it turns our waste food into compost to be used on farms across the North West . And it decreases the burden on our landfill sites. There are number of negative impacts of food waste sent to landfill including the production of potent gases such as methane and water pollutants such as leachate.

Anyone who is recycling their food waste through our scheme should feel the inner satisfaction that they are contributing towards a more sustainable environment. I am sure we are part of a greener, cleaner and healthier future.

Our new food waste recycling collections are going great!

Tue, 04 May 2010 11:39:00 +0100

So 7,000 homes across Pendle have been recycling their food waste for the past two weeks. And we're the lads who come and collect it.

Between us we've worked for Pendle Council for fifteen years, but we've had to learn a whole new 'round' for food waste.

Not all homes in Pendle can recycle their food waste yet. We currently collect from 7,000 homes in parts of Barnoldswick, Earby, Brierfield, Barrowford, Nelson and Colne.

And Pendle people are already getting into it. In the first couple of weeks alone, we've collected well over a tonne of food waste a day. The most we've collected on one day is one and three quarter tonnes - smashing our target of one and a half tonnes a day. Fantastic for so early in the scheme!

It makes us proud to be working for the first Council in East Lancashire to introduce food waste recycling. Our new role sees us taking to the streets in a brand new vehicle. Perhaps you've seen it already - it's got the Recycle for Pendle branding with images from the national recycling campaign on each side. It's very colourful - look out for it and give us a wave!

Once we've collected the food waste, we drive over to Todmorden where there's an indoor processing plant. Here the waste gets treated and starts to be broken down. Within four weeks it becomes a high quality compost that gets sent to farms across the North West . It's really good stuff - I wouldn't mind getting my hands on some for my allotment!

The Nelson Leader Goes on the Wagon

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:42:00 +0000

Brown bins have now been rolled out to houses across Pendle and the new outdoor food bins are set to follow them.
We have got rid of the troublesome blue sacks and have been given the opportunity to recycle more than ever before.

But how many people are choosing to go down the green route and "recycle more for Pendle"? And how many people are still struggling to get to grips with what should be put in what bin?

I jumped in a recycling wagon with a few members of the recycling team to find out.

Changes have been made over the past few months to the way we recycle.
Glass, cans and plastic bottles are now collected fortnightly from the brown bin and paper from the green boxes. Textiles, cardboard and garden waste are collected in the same way as before.

Wagon driver Michael Judson told me that many people have already got used to the new scheme and most seem happy to be doing their bit for the environment.
"At first some people were complaining that their brown bins were too big but now most people who've wanted a smaller one seem to have got one and everything is settling down.
Some people are still asking us what recycling goes where because they haven't seen the sticker on the inside of the lid but once we show them they manage it."

The biggest problem for the recycling team is people putting their recycling into the bin inside a plastic carrier bag, as this can't be recycled so the collectors have to open them up to empty the recycling out.

Pendle Council is giving us more encouragement than ever before to recycle and many people are getting into the green spirit. We recycled 34% of our rubbish between 2008 and 2009 and over the past few months since introducing the new recycling scheme this figure has risen to 37%.

Councillor John David, spokesperson for recycling in Pendle said: "The alternative to recycling is to use landfill sites which are quickly filling up and a terrible way to dispose of rubbish. By recycling we save energy and can reuse materials so it is a win win situation for everyone."
Pendle has a better recycling rate than both Burnley and Preston but we could still be doing more to make us one of the best recycling boroughs in Lancashire .

So what will encourage those reluctant few to go green?

Did you know that 60% of rubbish that ends up in a dustbin could be recycled and just one can would save enough energy to power a television for three hours and a glass bottle would power a computer for 25 minutes.

But what happens to our recycling rubbish when it is collected from outside our homes?

When paper and cardboard is collected it is stored at Pendle Council's Operational Services Depot until it is collected and graded and baled before being sold to paper mills across the UK , Europe and Asia . The paper can then be recycled into writing paper, tissues, newsprint and packaging and the cardboard into cardboard boxes, packaging, animal bedding and office supplies.

Glass, plastic bottles and cans are also stored at the Operational Services Depot before they are collected and separated into four parts- glass, plastic bottles, aluminium cans and steel cans.

The glass is remelted to make new glass bottles and jars and plastic bottles are recycled to make bins, crates, traffic codes, CD cases, fleeces and garden furniture.

Aluminium cans are used to make trains, wheelchairs, windows and walking frames where as steel cans make train tracks, bicycle frames, pipes and ship's hulls.

Recycling in Pendle has taken a huge step forward in the past few months and with the arrival of the brown bin and the promise of a new food bin, there has never been a better time to go green.

- Philippa West (Nelson Leader)

Waving goodbye to the blue bags!

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 10:13:00 +0100

I can tell you I won't be feeling blue this week - now that I've put out my last blue bag for the final time.

And I'm not the only one who'll be happy to wave goodbye to the blue bags. Lots of you have complained about blue bags blowing around making Pendle look untidy on recycling days.

The problem was that the plastic bottles they contained simply weren't heavy enough to keep them in one place. In our hillside villages like Blacko it's been a real issue on windy days.

We've been listening to local people and waiting to get a chance to do away with the blue bags.Now that there's a new system which can sort the rubbish out mechanically we've been able to make big improvements to our recycling service.

The new brown bins have sorted the problem out.You can put plastic bottles, cans, glass jars and bottles into the brown bin together.You can even put aerosols in the brown bin - but take their lids off first.

Please don't use plastic bags though. Just chuck them all in together and the new machines will do the work!

There's more space in the brown bins too, which means you can recycle more and simply wheel your bin out when it's full.

By 2015 we have to recycle 56% - that's over half our waste. I know with your help and the new brown bins we can do it!

Jade Braithwaite goes on the wagon

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 10:05:00 +0100

I haven't met any of the other stars yet. At 18 I'm one of the youngest - the oldest is Stanley Nutter at 75 and he also lives in Colne. It'll be weird when I start to bump into the other models around Pendle.

OK, I admit it's not the most glamorous of modelling careers, shooting on location in Nelson. It's been fun though!

My dad's a photographer, so I'm used to having a camera pointed at me. But I've never seen my larger than life image on massive wagons before.

It's been good to take part in getting the recycling message across. And it's opened my eyes to the importance of recycling.

We've just had our new brown bin delivered and I've started helping out a bit more - instead of leaving it all to my mum!

She's really passionate about recycling. Sometimes my friends come round and put things in the wrong bin. She sorts it out into the right bin pretty quickly.

I hope that seeing my image in the campaign will help younger people like me to do their bit with recycling.It's important to get the younger generation involved and make recycling a habit now so that we have a better future.

On our street our neighbours have been really pleased to get their new bins too and they think it will make it easier to recycle.

For the first time they'll be able to put cans, plastic bottles, glass jars and glass bottles in one bin, rather than doing lots of sorting out.

We live in a terraced house, so my mum will appreciate not having to carry the green box through the house to the front.

We'll simply wheel the brown bin out to the back. And, if we like, we only need to do this when it's full. It doesn't have to be every fortnight, because our brown bin has a lot more capacity than the green box.

Quite soon I'll be going to Uni. My mum will miss me, but she says at least she'll be able to see my face on the vans driving around Pendle!

My mum and I have also joined the Council's Recycle More for Pendle group on facebook - and you can too.

I'll be putting my experience of being a model on my CV. There aren't that many people who can say they've modelled for recycling.Although I must say in Pendle quite a few of us are sharing the spotlight.

The brown bins are being delivered!

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:05:00 +0100

We've started delivering your new brown bins this week. So far around 5,000 brown bins have been delivered - only 35,000 to go!

Start using your bin as soon as it arrives. Remember, it's for your plastic bottles, glass jars and bottles, and food / drinks cans.

Please don't put plastic bags in your brown bin with your recycling. You can put everything into the bin loose because a machine does the sorting now. I'm glad it's not me any more!

If you want to be the perfect recycler, here are a few tips :

Don't put margarine tubs or yoghurt pots in. Unfortunately we can't recycle them yet because there's nowhere in the region which will take them and recycle them.When there is, we will.

Another top tip - please take the lids off bottles, such as milk bottles.They're made of a different plastic and can't be recycled along with the rest of the bottle.

And remember, no plastic bags, please.

Sometimes people stop me and say, "Hey! Aren't you the chap on the recycling leaflet?" It's true. I am the cover guy, and happy to be the friendly face of recycling in Pendle.

Say hello if you see me or any of the team out on our collections rounds and give us a shout if you'd like our handy helpline card which has the 01282 661743 recycling helpline number on it.

Together we can all do out bit to recycle more for Pendle.

Recycle more – it’s a way of life

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 21:29:00 +0100

So the great day is near and the brown bins are almost with us. A massive amount of work has been done by Sarah and Claire in the Communications Team and Carole, our Waste Services Manager. They have spent months planning and thinking about the scheme and trying to anticipate any problems. I think they have done a tremendous job for recycling in Pendle.

I remember fighting a hard fight against the threat of a landfill site being established in Pendle many years ago. Can you imagine it? Happily it was a fight we won and that's one of the many reasons I'm passionate about recycling.

We all love Pendle because it's a green and pleasant place, with lots of open spaces and beautiful countryside. Recycling plays a part in keeping it that way. By recycling we are helping to protect the environment including dumping less of our waste in landfill sites.

We know that most Pendle people are passionate about recycling too. That's why we're pretty confident in setting a target of recycling well over half our waste (56%) by 2015. We're currently recycling 36% of our waste, which is well above the rate we were recycling back in 2004 which was 11%. So we are well on the way. But to help us all meet this much higher target we're introducing the new brown wheelie bin.

Many people have told us that they often didn't have enough capacity in their green boxes. Some even admitted that when their green box was full they simply whizzed the rest of their recycling in the bin!

To help us recycle more, the new brown bin has a lot more capacity. It's easier because you don't have to sort out your cans from your plastic bottles - they can all go into the brown bin along with your glass bottles and jars.

You only have to wheel your new brown bin out when it's full - so that can save you time too.

A lot of local people who live in terraced houses told me they were fed up with carrying their leaking green box through the house to the front for collection. Now people who live in terraced houses - and that's thousands of people - can put their recycling out at the back too, which is where they put their general waste.

Quite a lot of residents have said they are worried they won't have space for the new bin. We can help. If you call us on 01282 661743 before 28 August, you can opt to have a smaller bin before we start delivering the new brown bins. If it's after that date, give the new bin a try and if it's too big, we'll be happy to swap it later or discuss other options with you.

By now you should have got our advice leaflet through the post which explains everything. But you're welcome to come along to our final roadshow at Brierfield Community Centre on Saturday 22 August 9am - 11am to find out more and get any help you need.

Or simply phone our helpline 01282 661743. You can also look on this website www.pendle.gov.uk/recycling which has lots of useful information and even some videos which show you exactly what goes where when it comes to recycling.

Thanks for your help in recycling more for Pendle - together we can do it!