95% participation in Calderdale's new recycling service*

95% of households in Calderdale using the Council's new recycling service*, but some initial problems.

In other areas where it had introduced similar schemes, SITA UK the Council's waste collection contractor usually expect around 85% of households to participate. But in Calderdale the actual rate immediately after the launch on 20th April has been 95%*. In addition to this the high volume of plastics collected in the first cycle suggests that householders had been storing plastics for some time in anticipation of the new service.

But this high participation rate and greater volumes have meant that the Council service has been struggling to keep up. Other problems which the Council and SITA have had to respond to are that 22,000 white bags for recycling plastic bottles were delayed in Customs, and couldn't be delivered on time; there were errors in the initial containers and property survey which meant that some households were wrongly assigned wheelie bins or had been missed off the newly re-organised collection round sheets; and that the Assisted Collection Scheme for wheelie bins was not fully in place. In the short term households that requested assistance have continued on the existing black sack collection service until their need for assistance can be assessed.

Extra call centre staff have been employed to handle the higher volume of calls that Council has been receiving about waste and recycling, whilst SITA have brought in additional crews and supervisors to deal with the increased workload. The rate of missed collections is dropping day by day as crews become more familiar with the rounds. Meanwhile householders are also getting used to the new service.

Calderdale Council Leader, Councillor Stephen Baines, said: "I would like to thank people for their patience, their excellent recycling efforts so far and promise that the new service will improve and soon."

Dave Foster, Logistics Director for SITA UK said: "SITA UK is a company that values the communities in which it is a part and we apologise for the problems that some people have experienced over recent weeks. We are committed to getting it right for all residents. We hope the numerous measures we have implemented including adding further recycling vehicles, additional crews for missed collections and support services to our team will help achieve this."


* Figure calculated and supplied by the waste collection contractor.