Record recycling in South Derbyshire

Rates of paper and card recycling in South Derbyshire have reached record levels, helping the council to double its recycling rate in the past four years.

Back in 2003, South Derbyshire's residents were only recycling 17.49 per cent. However, the latest government figures show that this has now increased to over 36.5 per cent, thanks to the simultaneous expansion of a range of kerbside collection schemes and the development of the area’s bring bank infrastructure.

Smurfit Kappa Recycling has worked in partnership with the council to expand its bring network so that residents can recycle their mixed paper, including newspapers and magazines, cardboard, directories, Yellow Pages, envelopes and all other fibrous packaging materials. All of the mixed paper collected is transported to a paper mill in Birmingham, where it is used to make a range of new packaging materials. What’s more, the carbon footprint of the process is kept to a minimum because the material does not need to be transported to a separate sorting facility.

It means that South Derbyshire District Council is now on track to reach the government target of 40 per cent by 2010. Lorraine Neave, Waste Management Officer for South Derbyshire District Council, said: "Our residents have responded extremely well to the recycling challenge, taking advantage of all the services we've made available. Our policy is to ensure that they are offered a choice of recycling services and bring banks play an important role in that."