Over 1,200 tonnes of glass collected for recycling in first seven months of Newark and Sherwood District Council’s kerbside collection service

Hundreds of tonnes more glass has been collected for recycling since the roll-out of a kerbside collection service.

Newark and Sherwood District Council launched its in-house kerbside glass recycling collections in April this year, as well as phasing out externally run bottle banks across the district.

The scheme has seen a successful first seven months, earning the council recycling credits, reducing glass contamination of silver bin recycling, and seeing more glass collected for recycling across the district.

An update on the service was given at Monday (November 25)’s Policy and Performance Improvement Committee meeting.

The lead officer stated it was the “biggest change in waste recycling Newark and Sherwood District Council had seen in about 20 years”.

The glass collected from households each eight weeks is stored at a waste transfer station at Newark’s Lorry Park, before being sent to a plant in Wales to be melted down into new bottles and jars.

Each collection cycle has seen an increase in the tonnage of glass collected — with 100 tonnes more collected in the last round than the first one — and an overall 62.8% increase in the amount of glass recycled by residents since the start of the scheme.

Glass previously accounted for an average of 8.2% of the contamination found in silver bins per month, but this has since dropped to 4.1%. The glass collected has also been well under the contamination allowance.

Support has also been given to Recycling Ollerton and Boughton (ROB) to help it continue its glass collection work, which provides meaningful activity and work for people with learning disabilities in the area.

To help support any increase in requests for ROB’s glass service, the council funded the purchase of an additional 1,000 boxes and it has already seen an increase of 11% in the glass tonnage collected.

However, there have been some minor hiccups in the recycling system which are set to be ironed out — including helping residents keep track of the collection dates.

Roger Jackson said: “I’m really pleased to see the glass recycling is working well and going ahead.

“The only complaint I’ve heard has been about confusion over collection dates. If that could be improved that would be great.”

This concern was echoed by a number of councillors, and suggestions included a bin sticker.

The officer confirmed the idea was ‘not beyond the realms of possibility’ but the wide variety of routes meant multiple different stickers would need to be produced and there was scope for incorrect ones to be handed out as four teams cover all the routes.

It was pointed out a text alert system is already available, which residents can sign up to.

There has also been three noise complaints received, and to help combat these issues, the council has looked into ways the crews can vary the starting point of their round to avoid noise early in the morning.

Crews also start later than other waste teams to minimise noise disruption.

David Moore also questioned if additional collections would be held over Christmas and New Year, when glass bins were likely to be filled more quickly.

The council does not have the resources for additional collection rounds, the officer explained, but it could ensure its bottle banks were emptied when needed and direct residents there to dispose of any additional glass they have.

So far the scheme includes 41,212 household bins, and residents can still opt-in for free by contacting the council on 01636 650 000 or customerservices@newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk.

Businesses can also opt in to the council’s trade glass recycling service through the same contact. The scheme was launched in June and has 28 businesses already signed up.

Residents who live in the areas surrounding Ollerton and Boughton, serviced by ROB, can also choose to use their service, with information available on their website at www.recyclingollerton.co.uk.

Empty and clean food jars, glass drink bottles, toiletry jars, perfume bottles and reed diffuser bottles can be put in the glass recycling bins, while oven-proof glass such as Pyrex, mirrors, drinking glasses, vases, nail varnish bottles, panes of window or greenhouse glass, microwave plates, spectacles and light bulbs and tubes should be put in the green bin.

This is because these items do not melt at the same temperature as the glass that you can recycle.