Council praise as recycling rockets

9:09am Tuesday 31st July 2007

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RECYCLING by Wirral residents has rocketed - despite controversy over the recently introduced fortnightly bin collections.

In its first quarter performance, local recycling rates jumped from 13% to 27.5% for April, May and June.

"We realise the transition hasn’t been smooth but we feel this result shows how Wirral’s residents are really getting to grips with the new service."

David Green

That compares with 2006/2007, which saw just 14% of all waste recycled and now the council wants to say thank you to all residents doing their bit.

David Green, director of technical services, said: "Well done to everyone who is recycling with their brown and grey bins and using bring sites.

"We realise the transition hasn't been smooth but we feel this result, although early days, shows how Wirral's residents are really getting to grips with the new service."

Residents began recycling using their grey bins last November, with the final stages rolling out throughout April, May and June.

Wirral introduced the new scheme over a short time period, which caused some operational issues, but they insist that working alongside the council's contractor Biffa, most of those problems have been resolved and the service will be subject to a continuous process of improvement.

Mr Green added: "These figures are early indications of our year end rate. The council's target for 2007/08 is 23% and so we're thrilled that we are pushing this already.

"We still have a long way to go and garden waste recycling does drop in the winter, but if residents continue with their current efforts we're confident that Wirral can jump ahead and become a high performing authority."