DRARA Greenflash 34

[Anna Eden]

 

DRARA

GREENFLASH 34

 

CONGRATULATIONS!

 

With so much bad news around, we thought you might like to give yourselves a pat on the back. Here in DRARA we are part of a very successful waste and recycling programme. The current recycling collection now available means that 80% of the contents of our household waste bins can be recycled or composted. By doing our best to put the right things in the right bins, we are making a real difference to Oxford.

 

And it’s getting better every day. The recycling rate has increased from 24% in 2006/7 to an impressive 45% in 2011/12. By recycling a very large proportion of our household waste, we send a lower percentage to landfill.

 

In our city, the figure has gone down by over 1000 tonnes for the last year alone. This is really good news. Landfill is heavily taxed by central government to encourage waste reduction and to increase recycling. This means that we’re all doing our bit not only to reduce waste but to save money too.

 

Oxford also has a very good record with regard to the waste we produce. In 2010/11 the city was fourth lowest in the country for total waste generated by households. And when we compare Oxford with towns whose population and demographic is similar to ours, we are currently within the top ten for the 2010/11 recycling rate.

 

And for any of you who have wondered what happens to all that “rubbish” that we put into the different coloured bins, here are few more facts and figures.

 

Firstly about the food waste, that mucky collection of bones and bread and surplus pasta we put in the small DARK GREEN BIN. Collected weekly, it goes to one of two sites alternately. In Cassington it’s churned up in a huge vat and fed through a series of pipes and then, in a miraculous process called anaerobic digestion, it’s transformed into electricity. In the process it also produces a rich black goo which makes a fantastic soil conditioner for use on local farms. What’s more, this process actually pays for itself.  It generates enough energy to run the plant and the surplus is fed back into the national grid.

 

Every other week, that same mix of left-overs, teabags, fish heads and pan scrapings is sent to the plant in Ardley, where it’s mixed together with garden waste in a process called in-vessel composting. After the material has been treated at very high temperatures to kill anything harmful, it turns into high-quality compost, an invaluable product in cultivation. So not only is our nasty food waste kept out of landfill – it is actually recycled into useful and valuable products. It may even turn up soon in our flowering tree pits.

 

As for the contents of our BLUE BINS AND BOXES, this mixed recycling is sent to a plant in Enstone, where the items are separated, sorted and bundled to be moved on for more processing. Most plastics go to Milton Keynes for further separation. And all of it gets transformed into something useful.

 

 

As for the big GREEN BINS, that stuff goes to landfill and the less we put in them the better. But the best news of all is that East Oxford has an especially impressive record on recycling in the city.

 

SO KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

 

If you would like more details of the processes, there is a video available on Oxford City Council website: http://www.oxford.gov.uk/PageRender/decER/Where_Recyclables_Go_occw.htm

 

And if you’d like to see some of them for yourself, the council organises regular visits to the recycling plants. For information on upcoming visits, go to:

http://iliffe.portalconstructor.co.uk/oxfordshirewastepartnership-newsletter/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=499738

 

The DRARA Environment Action Group aims to support practical ways of reducing energy use and promote environmentally friendly lifestyles.  For further information please contact: maggie...@btopenworld.com

 

 

[Jake Brumby]

Well done Oxford!

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