FAQs
- Why do we need to reduce waste and recycle more materials?
- What are the financial penalties of failing to meet the 2010 deadline to reduce landfill volumes?
- Some people claim that it is possible to achieve recycling and composting rates higher than 65 per cent. Shouldn’t Peterborough be aiming higher?
- What about places that claim to have a zero waste policy?
- Is the existing materials recycling facility (MRF) adequate to handle 65 per cent plus?
- What can be done with kitchen food waste that currently goes in the black bin?
1. Why do we need to reduce waste and recycle more materials?
When biodegradable rubbish is buried in landfill sites it produces methane – a powerful global warming gas – as it decomposes. In an effort to reduce this environmental damage, the EU Landfill Directive and UK legislation have set strict targets to stop putting waste into landfill sites. These are:
By 2010 landfill only 75 per cent of the biodegradable wastes landfilled in 1995
By 2013 landfill only 50 per cent of the biodegradable wastes landfilled in 1995
By 2020 landfill only 35 per cent of the biodegradable wastes landfilled in 1995.
In 2007/08 Peterborough landfilled 49,155 tonnes of household waste. This means that Peterborough must reduce the biodegradable waste it landfills to just 34,135 tonnes by 2009/10; to 22,736 tonnes by 2012/13; and to just 15,909 tonnes by 2019/20.
Failure to meet these targets will result in substantial fines for every tonne of ‘over-target’ waste that is landfilled. In addition, landfill sites are fast filling up. The one used by the city council at Dogsthorpe will be full and closed by the end of 2013.
As well as this, reducing waste and recycling more reduces that amount of energy used in production of the products in the first place, and it saves valuable raw materials.
Peterborough City Council recycled and composted 46 per cent of household materials in 2007/08 and plans to increase this to at least 65 per cent by 2020.
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2. What are the financial penalties of failing to meet the 2010 deadline to reduce landfill volumes?
Under the UK’s Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme (LATS) failure to meet the targets will mean the city council will have to pay fines of £150 per tonne of ‘over-target’ waste – estimated at
£1 million to £6 million per year – plus a proportion of a £500,000 daily fine against the UK if it collectively fails to achieve its cumulative target.
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3. Some people claim that it is possible to achieve recycling and composting rates higher than 65 per cent. Shouldn’t Peterborough be aiming higher?
Peterborough’s target to recycle more than 65 per cent of domestic waste is among the highest in the world. This supports our aspiration to be recognised as the UK’s Environmental Capital. There are substantial variations in the way other municipal authorities around the world record their recycling performance. Some very high recycling rates include commercial and industrial wastes, which are often far easier to recycle than ‘black bin’ waste from people’s homes.
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4. What about places that claim to have a zero waste policy?
Zero waste is a new concept that entails re-designing products and changing the way waste is handled, so products last longer, materials are recycled, or, in the case of organics, composted. However, this is a long-term goal. If and when such a thing is possible, Peterborough City Council will be happy to embrace it. Peterborough’s vision is that all waste is used as a resource, ensuring the sustainability and the protection of our environment with zero landfill.
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5. Is the existing materials recycling facility (MRF) adequate to handle 65 per cent plus?
As Peterborough City Council works towards the goal of recycling more than 65 per cent of household materials, more space will be required to handle recycling operations. The current building has limited space for further development and for storage of processed material. A larger facility is needed to allow the MRF to develop in response to Peterborough’s increasing population.
The council also recycles materials through the bring banks and the Householders’ Recycling Centre, both of which are also set for improvements.
6. What can be done with kitchen food waste that currently goes in the black bin?
The city council’s waste management policy – approved on 28 February 2007 – includes a commitment to introduce measures to recycle kitchen food waste, which represents an estimated 21 per cent of recoverable material (around 40 per cent of typical black wheelie bin contents). There are currently two main methods of treating kitchen waste: in-vessel composting, which means using an enclosed heat-treatment system to turn kitchen waste into compost; and anaerobic digestion (AD), which is a process that allows special microbes to feed on the waste and in the process produce methane gas that can be burned to generate electricity.
Officers are investigating the best methods for collecting and treating kitchen food waste and they will report their findings to the councillor-led cross-party Members’ Waste and Recycling Working Group so that they can recommend their preferred option for adoption by the city council.
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