Kerbside recycling – it’s a Bristol tradition

This article is part of a six month series on waste, which investigates what is happening at a local and national level and where Bristol businesses and residents can get involved to make change.

Bristol has always done its bit for the planet when it comes to reducing the amount of waste from the city that goes into landfill. It was one of the pioneering cities for kerbside recycling in the UK in the 1980s, and as a consequence a number of our reuse organisations were born here in Bristol that have gone nationwide.

In the 80’s the only council household recycling collection was newspapers, and when this was stopped Friends of the Earth sprung into action and, took on collecting other materials, which laid the foundations for kerbside recycling as we know it today and inspired other cities around the country.

Another positive consequence of this movement was that Children’s Scrapstore and the Sofa Project developed out of this movement; diverting materials and furniture from landfill so they could be reused.

Bristol Waste’s Albert Road Depot where recycling is further sorted before being sold on the international commodity market.

Fast forward to 2018 and our kerbside recycling is managed by Bristol Waste who are a holding company of Bristol City Council, which means that any profit the organisation make on selling recycling can be reinvested back into the city. Therefore, they are focused on achieving the highest possible value on the international commodity market,  where our recycling gets sold and shipped around the world to make into new materials.

The aim to have high quality segregated materials informs the way our recycling is collected with recycling sorted at the kerbside and again at the sorting station at Albert Road waste depot in St Philip’s Marsh.

Recycling is separated at the kerbside to achieve the highest recycling rates

The international commodity market can be volatile, especially for plastics: this can be influenced by the price of oil, the main ingredient in plastics, and countries like China refusing low-grade plastics. So by having a reputation for quality materials, Bristol Waste can ensure they still get a good price and can sell the materials when others can’t.

Bristol’s plastic recycling currently goes to sites in the UK, Ireland, Turkey and Indonesia, while cans and glass are processed in the UK. In fact, earlier this year Bristol Waste won an award from Novelis for the consistently high quality of the cans put out for recycling, which on average have less than three per cent contamination.

Bristol Waste won an award for the quality of their can recycling from Novelis earlier in 2018.

Around Bristol, the quantities of materials vary from area to area. In parts of Bristol they collect significant amounts of cardboard as residents do a lot of online shopping. Whilst events like the World Cup will have created more cans and plastics than normal from the match drinking.

Items also occasionally get recycled accidentally. Bristol Waste say they have received many a frantic call asking to look through the paper recycling for a Glastonbury ticket, a passport or holiday vouchers- and when you see the paper mountain it would be like a needle in a haystack. Things like passports are often reunited with owners on the kerbside, as the employees spot them while sorting through the recycling bins.

Bristol Waste’s Recycling Operatives sorting and separating waste at the kerbside.

How much did Bristol Recycle last year?

According to Bristol Waste’s 2017/18 figures, 138, 526 tonnes in total were collected from the kerbside. This breaks down to:

• Plastic: 4,059 tonnes
• Food: 11,049 tonnes
• Glass: 10,796 tonnes
• Paper and Card: 15,303 tonnes
• Steel and aluminum: 1,842 tonnes

And what happened to it?

• Plastic gets turned into various things, from fleece jackets to drain pipes.
• The gas from food goes into homes, and the fertiliser onto fields.
• Glass is made into jars, used in roads and insulation.
• Paper and card is turned back into paper and card.
• Steel cans get turned into cars, white goods or mobile phone parts and aluminum back into cans.

Despite Bristol’s pedigree when it comes to recycling, there is still more to do. The city hasn’t yet hit the 50 per cent recycling target; in 2016/17 it was 43 per cent. So it requires every household in Bristol to do their bit and build on the existing successes to help Bristol benefit from the environmental and financial beneifts of better recycling.

For tips about inspiring your household and increasing the amount you recycle, visit: b247.staging.proword.press/lifestyle/environment/tips-household-waste-recycling

If you are a business looking for tips to address your waste management, visit: b247.staging.proword.press/life style/environment/tackling- your-business-waste/