13/11/12…..Southern Oxfordshire residents are tops for recycling
RESIDENTS in the southern half of Oxfordshire have been named as the top recyclers in England in official government figures released this week.
The Vale of White Horse was top of the tables with a recycling rate of 68.7 per cent, closely followed by South Oxfordshire, which includes Thame, with a rate of 67.9 per cent.
Both districts leapfrogged last year’s lead authority Rochford, which came third with 67.4 per cent of their rubbish recycled.
The Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire district councils have been operating a joint waste collection service over the past two years, delivered by Biffa, which involves alternate weekly collections of waste and recycling and weekly food waste collections.
Prior to introducing the existing service, the Vale?s recycling rates were 36 per cent with South Oxfordshire?s standing at 42 per cent.
The official figures confirm the findings of an unofficial survey earlier in the year conducted by letsrecycle.com.
Cllr Reg Waite, cabinet member for waste at the Vale, said: ?We are absolutely delighted that our residents have been named the best recyclers in the country. Our joint waste service is designed to make it as easy as possible, but without the hard work of everybody at home, we couldn?t have achieved this remarkable accolade. We will not be resting on our laurels though ? we are always seeking ways of getting those numbers even higher!?
Thame Town Cllr David Dodds, who is also cabinet member for waste at South Oxfordshire District Council, said: ?We want to thank all of our residents for their exceptional dedication to recycling. What a success our joint waste service with the Vale has proven to be. Both districts coming first and second really highlights what an effective service it is. There are real practical benefits from such good recycling figures as it saves us significant sums of money in avoided landfill taxes.?
Recent additions to the councils? waste service include battery recycling collections, where residents can leave household batteries in a small, clear plastic bag on top of their green bin on recycling week. A number of pink recycling banks for small electrical items have also been recently introduced to some of the councils? recycling locations across the two districts.
SOURCE; Press release
