Peterborough has ‘failed abysmally’ over recycling as rates continue to drop

Leader of the council’s Lib Dem group Cllr Nick Sandford made the claim after recycling and composting rates dropped to 40 per cent - far short of the 65 per cent target.

The rate of recycling in Peterborough has been falling in recent years, but it was hoped the introduction of the new Household Recycling Centre in Fengate in February 2019 would see a reverse of the trend.

The council’s performance is not far from the national average, however, Peterborough has an aspiration to be the UK’s Environment Capital.

The 40.04 per cent figure is for the period between January and July this year during which time the council said there had been a “noticeable rise in the amount of waste and recycling materials” collected from households.

However, the recycling and composting rates were similar to the 41.73 per cent figure over the same period in 2019.

Cllr Sandford claimed that the introduction of a garden waste charge in 2014 has had a detrimental effect on the recycling rate.

He said: “In 2008, the council adopted a target of getting recycling and composting to at least 65 per cent by 2020. They have failed abysmally to meet that target and recycling rates are actually falling.

“Lib Dems argued that building a waste incinerator would divert waste away from recycling and make them miss their targets and I am sorry to say that we have been proven correct.

“And charging for garden waste means that a big proportion of residents no longer have a brown bin and garden waste is going into the black bins. Many other councils have done better than us by incentivising residents to separate out recyclable waste into different categories at the kerbside.”

Between 2015/16 and 2017/18 the rate hovered around 43 per cent, before dropping down.

The latest recycling and composting figures were included in a report to city councillors on the Growth, Environment & Resources Scrutiny Committee.

The report noted there had been a reduced collection of garden waste due to coronavirus restrictions on top of a near nine per cent rise in kerbside collections.

It also stated that there has been approximately 45 tonnes of mixed recycling sent to landfill after being rejected.

It is hoped greater education will reduce this figure, while an improvement on inspection and monitoring during the collection process is also being worked on.

The recycling centre has been well used since re-opening in May, with recycling and green waste disposals up by 31 per cent in June - compared to 12 months earlier - and residual waste up by more than 50 per cent.

A Peterborough City Council spokesperson said: “Recycling rates have fallen and this is in line with a national pattern. The report clearly states that this is impact of Covid-19 and numbers are for kerbside only and not the complete figures, including the Household Recycling Centre performance, so not a true comparison to previously published numbers when viewed in isolation.

“Additionally, whilst it may appear that progress has been slow it must be understood that the nature of the materials collected has changed and much recyclable packaging used at present is significantly lighter than it was years ago. The process of ‘light weighting’ packaging leads to a drop in tonnage of material collected even if the same number of items are collected for recycling.”

Cllr Marco Cereste added: “This issue was discussed at a recent scrutiny meeting and we clearly stated the council and members of the Recycling in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Partnership are actively involved in the consultation process being undertaken by government on the development of future waste and recycling strategy.

“This policy development aims to set national policy in such a way as to simplify the range of materials available for recycling to bolster performance and value whilst allowing local bespoke collection arrangements best suited to individual authority requirements.

“The forthcoming Government Resource and Waste Strategy will provide guidance and put in places funds for step change in a wholly national approach to recycling. Peterborough City Council, along with other councils, have been involved in shaping this developing legislation and will continue to do so during the next round of consultation in 2021.”

RECYCLING STATS IN PETERBOROUGH

2014/15 - 46.6%

2015/16 - 44%

2016/17 - 41.9%

2017/18 - 43.3%

2018/19 - 43.1%

2019/20 - 43.3%