Recycle For Calderdale

The preferred bidder for a 25-year waste management contract for Bradford and Calderdale has been announced.;

The preferred bidder for a 25-year waste management contract for Bradford and Calderdale has been announced.

A detailed analysis and valuation of the bids has now been completed. The evaluation criteria was agreed by both councils in 2008 when the decision was taken to go out to tender.

Bradford and Calderdale councillors discussed the outcome of the evaluation process at their respective Council meetings and both confirmed the appointment of Earth Tech/Skanska (ETS) as the preferred bidder.

The next stage in the process will be the award of a contract which is expected to take place next year.

The company will now start consultations in preparation for the submission of a planning application for a multi-million pound waste treatment plant on an eight acre site at Bowling Back Lane, Bradford.

The proposed plant will provide a fully integrated facility incorporating the latest environmentally-friendly technology to recover recyclables from the waste stream and recover energy by generating electricity using the remaining waste. The energy generated will be enough to power about 20,000 homes.

The process will offer a more sustainable alternative to depositing household waste to landfill sites which is not only costly but also harms the environment.

Calderdale's Cabinet Member for Economy and Environment, Coun Barry Collins, said:

"This will provide a long-term solution to managing waste from Calderdale and Bradford with both economic and environmental advantages for both areas.

"Constantly increasing landfill tax and the harm inflicted on the environment by sending our waste to landfill meant that we had no choice but to come up with a sustainable alternative which was more cost-effective and environmentally friendly."

Coun Andrew Thornton, Bradford Council's Executive Member for Environment and Sport, said: "This project will secure a method of managing waste from Calderdale and Bradford for the next 25 years and beyond. This will lead to an increase in recycling rates and a high level of diversion from landfill.

"It will also provide benefits in terms of creating jobs and securing investment."

Congratulations on a great recycling achievement;

In 2010 we all managed to recycle 41% of our waste. That makes Calderdale one of the country's most improved recyclers! Recycling not only makes environmental sense but it also saves us money too. Over the coming years Landfill Tax is set to rise even more so please keep up the good work and make sure we don't waste money by sending our recyclable materials to landfill.

It’s all ‘Recycling’ systems go!;

It’s less than two weeks to go until Calderdale launches its new improved recycling service on 20th April. And with the major task of issuing all those new wheelie bins and containers nearing its conclusion, we caught up with Malcolm Akroyd, the Council’s Waste Manager, to see how things were shaping up.

“Our contractor SITA’s just completing the job of distributing over 60,000 new wheelie bins and 90,000 food caddies to every household, and we hope that the white sacks for plastic bottle collections will all be delivered before the launch date,” he was able to announce. “If anyone hasn’t received their containers by 20th April they should contact us after then.”

Naturally, the exercise was bound to raise individual questions, but Malcolm’s team have been on hand to help. “Our Contact Centre has been very busy responding, most of all to requests for assisted collections from those people who meet the criteria – they won’t have to put their wheelie bins out on collection day”.

“We've also started reassessing households who have queried their eligibility for wheelie bins. We thank everybody for these inquiries and their continued cooperation as we respond to them.”

As the big day approaches, it is important that everyone checks to make sure they are ready for the changes, and starts introducing the new recycling into their daily routine. As Malcolm explains:

“It’s really important that every household knows which is their collection day of the week – especially as this may change with the new service. It will be the same collection day every week for both recycling and refuse, but some parts of Calderdale will be starting on ‘Week A’ and others on ‘Week B’ to balance the collection workload. To find out whether your area is beginning from 20th April with Week A or B, look on the calendar tag that came with your food caddy; but if you are not sure, please call 0845 245 7000. And we’ll soon have that information for every household on the postcode look-up facility on the Recycle for Calderdale website. It’ll make sure you put the right containers out on the right day.”

We’ll now be collecting plastic bottles, and your handy Recycling Guide, being sent to every household, will tell you which plastics we can and cannot recycle. But if you’ve been storing them up, don't put them all out at once, there's a collection every week. You can also start collecting food waste in your new caddies from Monday 13th, ready for your first collection the following week.”

Wheelie bins will always be collected in Week B only and this will usually be from the front of your property. However, if you store your bin at the rear and have access to an alleyway, your bin will be collected from the end of the alleyway (you may want to number your bin to identify it). If you store your bin at the rear and there is refuse vehicle access, your bins will be collected from there. If you’ve not been issued with a wheelie bin your plastic sacks will be collected from the same point as usual, but remember, this will only be once a fortnight in Week B.

Malcolm concluded: “Calderdale Council would like to thank everybody for their patience and cooperation as we go through this major change, which will take us all towards our recycling target of 40% by 2010. We hope that everyone is looking forward to making the best use of their new improved recycling service.”

New recycling service comes to Calderdale;

New bins and bags will be delivered to households all over Calderdale over the next few weeks: grey wheelie bins, lockable brown bins big and small and white sacks. So what’s it all about and what are they for? Malcolm Akroyd, Waste Manager at Calderdale Council explained.

“We’ve set an ambitious target of recycling 40% of our waste by 2010. With the co-operation of our residents, and the new improved recycling system, we’ll be well on the way to reaching that target. But to do that we need to change the way we’re recycling”

“The new receptacles are all part of our new, improved recycling collection scheme. We’re now delivering them to households across the borough ready for the start of the new scheme on April 20th.”

The new system will include brand new weekly collections for food waste and plastic bottles, in response to public demand, as well as a new wheelie bin for non-recyclable waste at all compatible addresses. Combined with the existing containers, this will now give residents more ways to recycle their waste.

“The most efficient way of collecting recyclable waste is to have it sorted at source before it is collected,” Malcolm said. “The better the quality of the recycled materials, the more we will recycle. That’s good for the environment and it’s good for the Council Tax”.

The new containers will be appearing across the borough in the coming weeks, but don’t use them just yet! From April 20th, the Council will collect from every home every week, but will take different things on each visit.

With no organic waste, no paper, no plastic bottles and no glass, cans or tins, the new grey wheelie bins for non-recyclable waste should last a fortnight, so this will only be collected on alternate weeks. However, to avoid any smells or health hazards, food waste will be collected every week, as will bulky plastic bottles, so they don’t fill up your wheelie bin.

To ensure the new system is a success, the Council and its contractor Sita will be providing lots of information. Every household will receive (in their larger brown food caddy) an information tag which will tell them when their new service starts in their area and on which days to leave out which containers. You can also find out the full details of the new service and the collections in your area at www.recycleforcalderdale.org, by calling the Street Care Helpline on 0845 245 7000, and nearly 40 Roadshows have been organised across the borough until May. Dates and venues are on the website.”

Malcolm concluded: “Look out for your bins, boxes and bags arriving soon, and get ready for a new system of recycling. Of course, delivering all these bins to over 85,000 households is a real task and we know that some people will want to ask questions, particularly about wheelie bins”.

“To do this, just ring up the Street Care Helpline on 0845 245 7000 and they will take a note of your query, which Council Officers will then investigate. Whilst we review your situation, please keep your wheelie bin safe. Your co-operation will be really appreciated while we go through this major change”.

NEW SERVICE ROADSHOW NOTICE;

To help provide more information about the new recycling service that is coming to Calderdale there will be a number of roadshows over the coming months. These aim to explain the changes that will be taking place, how they may affect you, and answer any questions that you might have. To see when and where you can find these roadshows have a look at the table below:

March		Time	Location	Area
31	TUE	15.00-18.00	Sowerby Bridge Library	Sowerby Bridge
Apr
2	THU	12.00-15.00	St Georges Sq	Hebden Bridge
4	SAT	10.00-13.00	Woolshops	Halifax
6	MON	10.00-13.00	Sainsburys	Brighouse
9	THU	15.00-18.00	Somerfield	Elland
15	WED	12.00-15.00	Manor Heath Park	Halifax
16	THU	10.30-15.30	Mytholmroyd Community Centre	Mytholmroyd
18	SAT	10.00-13.00	Asda	Halifax
20	MON	10.00-13.00	Woolshops	Halifax
23	THU	14.00-17.00	Northowram Library	Northowram
30	THU	12.00-15.00	St Georges Sq	Hebden Bridge
May
2	SAT	10.00-13.00	Woolshops	Halifax
5	TUE	16.00-19.00	Asda	Halifax
8	FRI	14.00-17.00	Brighouse Library	Brighouse
13	WED	12.00-15.00	Woolshops	Halifax
16	SAT	10.00-15.00	Big Heap Day Hare & Hounds car park	Todmorden
20	WED	10.00-13.00	Peoples Park	Halifax
22	FRI	10.00-13.00	Woolshops	Halifax

Recycle your old unwanted bikes and buy reconditioned bikes ;

cyclerecycle aims to reuse unwanted bikes – stopping them from being put into landfill (or the canal) – and helping people to be able to buy them at a reasonable price.

It will also hopefully encourage more people to get out of their cars and onto their bikes, get fit and have some fun at the same time.

We take any bikes as long as they are in reasonable condition, parts and accessories (except for helmets).

You can drop bikes off at the Alternative Technology Centre by appointment - please give us a ring first on 01422 842 121

Contact cyclerecycle at:

Alternative Technology Centre
Hebble End Mill
Hebden Bridge
HX7 6HJ

Phone: 01422 842 121
Email: info@alternativetechnology.org.uk
Website: www.cyclerecycle.org.uk

Recycling Review - Your comments on Calderdale recycling;

In the Christmas Recycling Guide, we asked you for your thoughts about the recycling service provided by Calderdale Council and our new recycling and refuse contractor Sita. By the time we stopped for the Christmas break, nearly a thousand of you had commented and we’d like to say a big thank you to all of you for giving us this valuable feedback.

We were certainly encouraged by what we read. Calderdale citizens really want to recycle, you think the service we provide is already good and want us to carry on improving it. And that’s just what we’ll be doing in 2009.

Nearly one third of all comments were complimentary about the quality of the existing service. For example: “Calderdale is fab at recycling”, “Doing well and getting better!”, “Having three children and no car I find the recycling fantastic and my children love to get involved” and “I think the facility to phone and arrange to have big items such as old washing machines picked up is a brilliant service!” are just four of the many supportive remarks.

Our dedicated recycling staff were often singled out for individual praise for their friendly assistance. For example at the newly refurbished Elland household waste recycling centre (HWRC), the combination of helpful staff and new facilities have proved particularly popular. “Here in Elland we are very well served. Staff at the HWRC are extremely helpful and polite, which in itself is an incentive to recycle.” “The new layout at Elland is fantastic and the staff are very helpful and friendly.”

And you’re looking forward to the major changes and improvements to the whole recycling and refuse operation that will be introduced in 2009: “Can't wait for the extra household recycling for next year. Excellent service” said one respondent. “The new system will be much better. Also the food waste is a great idea as we don't have a garden so can't really have a compost bin, but hate throwing stuff away for landfill. Thanks!” added another.

The other clear message from your comments is that nearly 30% of you want to recycle more plastic and can’t wait until you can do so from home. One of the key elements of the new arrangements in 2009 will be that households will be able to recycle plastic bottles every week. This subject produced some of our most enthusiastic responses, such as: “Please please please collect plastic, as this is the most prolific of the collectable items.” “It will be brilliant when plastic milk bottles are collected.” “I use the local HWRC to take my plastic bottles, so I'm delighted to hear that you’ll soon be collecting them from the doorstep. Well done.”

Of course, as with every survey of opinion, there are also some suggestions for improvement and a few criticisms of the existing service. We’ll be using these to help both the Council and Sita to improve your recycling service to meet your expectations and solve your problems. One such issue was the introduction of wheelie bins, with opinion about equally divided!

Overall however, we’re delighted to say that the overwhelming message from your comments is that there is a real enthusiasm for recycling across the borough! We’re already recycling around 25% of our household waste, and with this kind of support and drive, backed by significant investment by the Council, we’ll soon be on target for 40%. Over the next few pages, we’ll tell you about the changes we’ll be making this year, and how you can find out when they’ll reach your part of Calderdale.

Meanwhile, as so many of you told us, keep up the good work!

Swap Shop at Wellholme Park;

A fun time was had by all who attended the Swap Shop at Wellholme Park, Brighouse on Sunday 11th January. There was music, dancing and chat from the Pulse Roadshow to keep swappers entertained as they browsed through the items available to swap. People brought their unwanted gifts to swap, and went away with something else they preferred instead. Swaps ranged from books, candle sets and clothing, to a dancing, singing penguin!

Order your compost bins by 11 Dec. to ensure delivery for Christmas!;

With all that extra waste over the festive season, it's a perfect time to start home composting, or even to encourage others to do so! Why not order a bin for your household in time for Christmas, or even buy one for your friends and family as a great environmentally friendly Christmas present!

To find out more go to the home composting section of this website, or order online now.

Youngsters pick up recycling prizes!;

Green-minded primary school pupils across Calderdale have been collecting recycling pledges over the past three years as part of the Recycling Rewards for Schools campaign which came to a close this year…and are now picking up prizes as reward for their hard work!

To bring the campaign to a close, primary school pupils throughout Calderdale were given mini-recycling guides to encourage them to keep up their good work in encouraging friends and family to recycle as much as possible.

As part of this they were encouraged to enter a prize draw by asking their parents to register for the new Recycle for Calderdale online newsletter which has been recently set up to keep residents up to date with the latest recycling news in Calderdale.

On Friday 24th October, two pupils at Triangle Church of England Primary School were awarded with a Nintendo Wii for entering the prize draw in a special assembly. A further two Nintendo Wiis have also been awarded.

Since the Recycling Rewards for Schools campaign began in 2005 nearly 30,000 households have made a pledge to recycle as much of their household waste. The campaign has seen schools presented with a wide range of new equipment such as musical instruments and computer equipment in return for recycling pledges.

Calderdale Council’s Cabinet Member, Health and Social Care, Councillor Graham Reason, said: “Primary school children have done a fantastic job in collecting recycling pledges, which have helped to make a big difference in the amount of household waste we recycle in Calderdale.

“These prizes are fully deserved and although the campaign is now over, recycling is still really important and we want to remind everybody who made a pledge to carry on the good work and recycle as much of their household waste as they can.”