Council defends recycling rates after trial ditched

STRATFORD District Council has defended its record on recycling amid criticism that there are no recycling bins on Bancroft Gardens.

This week the council admitted that recycling bins were trialled on Bancroft Gardens, but are no longer used because the waste collected was too contaminated to recycle.

A spokesperson for Stratford District Council said: “The Council is always looking at enhancing service provision and has previously trialled the use of recycling bins on Bancroft Gardens, however, they were often heavily contaminated with food waste. There are a number of ‘on-the-go’ (blue) recycling bins throughout Stratford Town Centre, the contents of which are recycled and not sent to landfill. The Council's recent Customer Satisfaction Survey showed that 87.7% of all respondents are either satisfied or extremely satisfied with the Refuse and Recycling Service – the Council's top rated service.

“In December 2018, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) published the recycling data for local authorities in England covering the financial year 2017/18. Stratford-on-Avon District Council maintained its position in the top 10 performing local authorities in England in terms of the percentage of household waste sent for reuse, recycling and composting. The Council collected over 33,000 tonnes of material which was either reused, recycled or composted. The Council’s recycling rate of 60.3% was the highest in Warwickshire and the wider West Midlands region.”

That excuse has not found favour with local campaigner James Charlett, who believes the council’s excuse for not using recycling bins on Bancroft Gardens is very weak.

Concerned resident and environmental campaigner James Charlett said the council’s explanation for not using recycling bins on Bancroft Gardens was weak.

"As a tourist destination Stratford has the opportunity to lead by example and improve the environment. Currently there are only a few, poorly positioned recycling bins in Stratford town centre and no waste from the Bancroft gardens, theatre areas, riverside or recreational ground is recycled. This means all plastic bottles, metal cans and other recyclables go straight to landfill. The previous trial run by the council to recycle more was poorly planned, the recycling bins were badly positioned with no general waste bins close by.

"The council states 60 per cent of household recycling is processed, this already low figure is misleading when taken into account 100 per cent of garden waste is processed (composted), they include this to boost their figures to 60 per cent. I am sure residents will be disappointed that less than half the recycling they sort and put out for collection is actually recycled with the majority going to landfill. Stratford council recently announced a climate emergency but it’s clear they aren’t serious about tackling the issues,” Mr Charlett said.