Fears over landfill sites
Thousands of tonnes of rubbish could be sent to landfill by businesses in Staffordshire because no recycling arrangements are in place for it to be collected by Cannock Chase District Council, it has been claimed. Thousands of tonnes of rubbish could be sent to landfill by businesses in Staffordshire because no recycling arrangements are in place for it to be collected by Cannock Chase District Council, it has been claimed. Firms wanting to recycle office waste such as paper are being left to make private arrangements for it to be collected or for staff to take it home themselves. The situation has been highlighted by Cannock public relations and advertising agency Ward Lovett, at Kingswood Lakeside. It is keen to boost the amount of its rubbish which is recycled but when staff contacted the district council to see if its waste paper could be collected regularly, they say they were told no such arrangements were in place. Read the full story in the Express & Star.
Firms wanting to recycle office waste such as paper are being left to make private arrangements for it to be collected or for staff to take it home themselves. The situation has been highlighted by Cannock public relations and advertising agency Ward Lovett, at Kingswood Lakeside.
It is keen to boost the amount of its rubbish which is recycled but when staff contacted the district council to see if its waste paper could be collected regularly, they say they were told no such arrangements were in place.
Andy Rea, PR account manager at Ward Lovett, said the firm was disappointed the council could not offer assistance with recycling its waste paper, cardboard and other materials.
He said it sparked concerns thousands of tonnes of rubbish was being sent to landfill when employees were willing to set recyclable items to one side.
Mr Rea said: "We want to be as green as possible but the council has no facilities in place to help us. In order to recycle our paper and other waste materials we have to take it home and that is not the most practical solution.
"I'm sure a lot of businesses in Cannock are also keen to do their bit to reduce landfill so something should be done by the council to address this issue."
Tom Hobbins, spokesman for the district council, confirmed it did not collect waste from firms to be recycled but believed there were companies which would collect it for a fee.
Cannock Chase District Council has dramatically increased the amount of waste collected from households to be recycled since introducing its fortnightly bin collections in 2005.
General waste is now collected on alternate weeks to recyclable items such as cans, bottles and paper plus garden waste and cardboard. Almost 40 per cent of household waste in the district is now recycled rather than sent to landfill.
The district council is keen to increase its recycling rates as the council will be fined by the Government for each tonne of waste going to landfill over a specified limit which would lead to a hike in council tax.
