Recycling

Humans are the only creatures on earth that will cut down a tree, turn it into paper, then write “save the trees” on it. Robert Swan said the greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it. Can I make a difference by recycling? Asked 8 billion people, but imagine if 8 billion people did recycle, the planet would not be in the trouble it is today. Let us all become part of the solution, not the problem.

The recycling in the estate has increased from year to year. From only an average number of houses 8 per month participating in June 2015 to an average of 37 houses per month participating in September 2020 (figure 1). The total number of houses has also seen an increase over the years. In June 2015 a total of 32 houses per month were recycling and by September 2020, a total of 160 houses per month are recycling (figure 2). Every week the number of houses ranges from between 31 to 39 houses (figure 3). Well done, and thank you to all who recycle!

To help make recycling easier, recycling bags are collected on Thursday from your house between 8:00 and 10:00. Please place your bag outside in a visible manner close to the street for us to collect. We do leave clean new plastic bags (Clear view) when we collect the week’s recycling from your house. Please use these bags for the following week, it allows us to see what is in the bag which will help us to sort recycling once collected. We do an urgent plea for all recycling to be sorted by its type, glass with glass, paper with paper, plastic with plastic, and cans with cans. We also please ask that NO POLYSTYRENE be added to the recycling as this is not an item that can be recycled. We also have some residents who dump their garden waste and domestic waste in the recycling bay. Cameras will be added to the recycling bay area to penalize the person who has been dumping their garden waste in the bay over the weekend. Please do not dump your domestic waste and garden waste in the bay as it leaves an unwelcome smell and makes the recycling items less pleasant to handle. We also ask residents that do take their recycling to the bay not to just drop it off right in the gate but to place it in the correct bins and bags where possible.