Trafford Green Party

More than 2000 local residents have joined Trafford Green Party to demand that Trafford Council improves its doorstep recycling scheme, through a petition delivered to the Council offices on Friday 2 November 2007.

Currently paper, glass, tin cans and garden waste are collected from the majority of homes in the borough, but much more waste can be recycled. “More than two-thirds of domestic waste is recyclable,” said Margaret Westbrook, the Green Party’s parliamentary candidate for Stretford and Urmston constituency. “Things have improved in Trafford in recent years, but we still lag far behind the national average and much more needs to be done. We believe that plastic, textiles, cardboard, batteries and light bulbs should all be included in doorstep recycling services and local residents agree.”

Trafford Green Party promotes a target recycling rate of 70% of domestic waste by 2015 and supports in principle the concept of “pay as you throw” incentives to improve participation (ie a system of charging for collecting rubbish). However, we need vast improvements to the current system of doorstep collections immediately. “Not only did residents tell us that they wanted to be able to recycle a wider range of waste,” Margaret commented, “they also raised a number of serious flaws in the current system. These include missed collections on narrow streets when bin lorries can’t get past parked cars and the exclusion of many flats from existing recycling services, despite residents’ wishes to be included. We all have a role to play in this issue, and Trafford Green Party calls on the Council to act NOW to enable residents to do their bit in achieving targets in waste reduction and recycling.”

The petition calls for doorstep recycling to include plastic, cardboard, textiles, batteries and kitchen vegetable waste.
Approximately 85% of residents approached agreed to sign the petition, between May and October 2007.
Source separation provides the best recyclate so an efficient and convenient doorstep collection of all recyclable materials is essential. Once good facilities are in place participation levels must be increased – careful monitoring, help and support where needed, and regular feedback to residents are important.
In December 2006 DEFRA pointed out that Trafford had recycling and composting rate of 24.1%. DEFRA also quoted in a report of April this year that local authorities were “to recycle or compost at least 25% of household waste by 2005.” Germany, Netherlands and Belgium currently achieve rates of 70% or more.