A new report published by the Surrey Environment Partnership (SEP) aims to increase resident confidence in what happens to their waste and ‘further boost’ the county’s 55.1% recycling rate.
The report, the second of its kind produced by SEP, follows recent research carried out by the Industry Council for Packaging and the Environment that shows citizens have variable confidence levels across Great Britain on whether recyclates are actually recycled after they’re collected, and links increased confidence to positive behaviours related to waste and recycling.
We believe that the more transparent and clear we are, the more motivated residents will be to participate in the recycling services we provide
The What Happened to Surrey’s Waste, 2020-21 report reveals that 76.9% of waste was treated or recycled in the UK and that just 3.8% of all waste went to landfill. The report also highlights that nearly half of the waste in rubbish bins could have been recycled, while 13.5% of the waste in recycling bins wasn’t recyclable.
The report, which has been published on SEP’s website alongside an infographic (pictured) and interactive map, also includes information about the new materials that Surrey’s recycling was turned into after it was collected.
Transparency
SEP Chairman, Councillor Neil Dallen, explained: “It’s important for residents to know exactly what happens to their recycling and waste once it leaves their homes. We believe that the more transparent and clear we are, the more motivated residents will be to participate in the recycling services we provide.
“Surrey’s recycling rate is already the third highest of England’s two-tier authorities, but we want to help our residents do even better.”
SEP has also published its annual review for 2020-21, detailing the wide range of initiatives that were undertaken on its behalf by the Joint Waste Solutions (JWS) team. The review’s highlights include:
- Core services were maintained throughout the year, despite the impact of the pandemic.
- SEP’s website saw a 278% increase in views of pages compared to 2019-20.
- Work took place to improve recycling at flats and to reduce contamination across the county.
- Among many communications initiatives, a targeted intervention aimed at increasing participation in the food waste collection service saw 34.9% more food waste bins put out post-intervention overall with the most successful communication method seeing an increase of 102.9%.
The Surrey Environment Partnership is made up of Surrey County Council and the 11 district and borough councils in the county. It aims to manage Surrey’s waste in the most efficient, effective, economical and sustainable manner.
The 11 district and borough councils are waste collection authorities (WCAs) and are responsible for the collection of Surrey’s municipal waste which includes waste from households.
The county council is the waste disposal authority and is responsible for the disposal and treatment of Surrey’s municipal waste collected at the kerbside and waste and recycling from Surrey’s community recycling centres (CRCs).