Keep on being green, council urges as it burns recycling waste
A COUNCIL has become the first in Britain to begin burning household recycling, but is still urging the public to keep separating their rubbish so as to not “break the habit”.
Cardiff Council has been sending its recycling waste to an Energy Recovery Facility (ERF), where it is burned and used as fuel to generate heat and power instead of being sorted and recycled, in an effort to maintain kerbside collections during the coronavirus pandemic. But despite all waste going in the same rubbish collection truck, the council is still urging people to continue to separate their recycling into green bags fearing that if it stops, it will be difficult to persuade people to start again when the lockdown lifts.
A Cardiff Council spokesperson said: “If you are recycling as normal we will be able to switch back with minimum fuss. Please don’t break the recycling habit.
“Once broken, it’s harder to resume and we could switch back to normal service sooner than you might expect.”
There is not enough space in black wheelie bins for recycling waste, the spokesperson said.
The council defended its decision to send the recycling waste to Trident Park Energy Recovery Facility in Cardiff as it said it was “the safest option for residents and our crews” and that the temporary measure would help “to remove waste from the city’s streets as quickly and as safely as possible” during the crisis.
The only waste that Cardiff Council is currently recycling is the two ash residues left over from the incinerator – metals and food waste.
Garden waste is not currently being collected. Michael Michael, the cabinet member for clean streets, environment and recycling at Cardiff Council, said: “It is important to emphasise that this is only a temporary measure implemented to ensure we can maintain a kerbside collection service across the city while supporting the health and welfare of the workforce and residents during the lockdown. We have to do this with reduced resources due to the Covid-19 outbreak and the extra help we are giving to the NHS.”
Viridor, which owns and operates the ERF in Cardiff, said that it was “receiving recyclable material as part of temporary measures introduced by the council during this very challenging time”.
The recycling and energy recovery facility said it had been assisting the council as it was experiencing “unprecedented pressure on its services”.
A spokesman added: “Like Cardiff Council, Viridor believes materials which can be recycled should be returned to the circular economy, and those which cannot should be used to generate low carbon heat and power at energy recovery facilities.”
A spokesperson for the Waste and Resources Action Programme said it had been “working hard” with the Government and other partners to “support local authorities and ensure that they are able to make informed decisions, and where possible, recycling services can continue”.
Lesley Jones, chief executive of Keep Wales Tidy, said she “sympathised” with the challenge and encouraged the public to “follow recycling guidelines”.
‘If you’re recycling as normal we will be able to switch back with minimum fuss. Please don’t break the habit’