Green-minded residents increase recycling rates
Ealing’s recycling rates have hit an all time high since the Council invested more than £3million in the service.
Official figures just out reveal that on average 35.9 per cent of the borough’s waste has been recycled since April, compared to 28.66 per cent for the same time last year.
Green-minded residents recycled an astounding 37.55 per cent of their waste in June, up 6.6 per cent year-on-year.
This follows a £3.8 million investment by the Council in November 2007 to improve refuse and recycling services. This included the introduction of plastics recycling and the provision of reusable sacks for garden waste, which have made it easier for residents to recycle. Garden waste is also now collected every week and refuse and recycling collections now take place on the same day.
The Council also launched a free fridge freezer collection service in June, which has led to all previous records for collections being smashed. A total of 829 appliances were collected that month, compared to 103 the year before. Altogether more than 1,200 fridge freezers were collected in June and July – far exceeding the 979 collected for the whole of last year. The number of fridges that were fly-tipped in the borough has also fallen by a third.
Councillor Sue Emment, Cabinet Member for Environment and Street Services, said: “Residents have made an outstanding effort to recycle more. I am so pleased that they are supporting our commitment to reducing the amount of waste going to landfill.
“The figures show a huge improvement and reflect everyone’s tremendous efforts. I would like to thank residents for helping us become such a clean and green borough.”
For more information about recycling visit www.ealing.gov.uk/recycling or call 020 8825 6000.
August 15, 2008