Verdant Reports 70 Percent Recycling Rate in U.K. City

After one year of a new recycling and rubbish collection service for residents in South Oxfordshire, U.K, Verdant U.K. announces that it has achieved a recycling and composting rate of around 70 percent. Along with sharply increasing the recycling rate, Verdant notes that the collection service is estimated to have saved around £350,000 (US$531,000), while generating as much as £850,000 (US$1.3 million) in recycling credits.

From June 2009 to early June 2010, Verdant reported that it has collected 18,531 metric tons of dry recyclables, 6,115 metric tons of food waste, and 7,434 metric tons of garden waste in South Oxfordshire, which, when combined with the district’s recycling banks, brought the area’s overall recycling and composting to 32,621 metric tons.

Meanwhile, the amount of municipally generated waste landfilled last year stood at 11,739 metric tons.

The recycling level for the past year is a significant increase from the prior year, when a total of 21,753 metric tons of recyclables and compostables were collected for recycling, resulting in a diversion rate of around 44 percent.

South Oxfordshire’s collection program, which was introduced in June 2009, features alternate week collection of single stream commingled dry recyclables and residual waste from wheeled bins, weekly collection of food waste, and an already-established subscription-based garden waste collection service. The range of collectable recyclables was extended to include glass, food and drinks cartons, aerosols and foil for the first time, and commingling was chosen as a proven easy way for residents to recycle more materials.