Successful recycling scheme to be extended

A PILOT scheme to collect recyclable material from outside people’s homes has proved so successful it’s to be extended throughout all of Co Cork next year.

On June 13 last, the county council decided to launch the pilot scheme in Ballincollig, Waterfall and Macroom. Collections for ordinary waste and recyclable waste were held on alternative weeks, and the results impressed council officials. It seems they also impressed householders.

Enda Kiernan, acting senior executive engineer, said the council had lost customers to private contractors who were operating both collection, but now they were coming back.

On foot of this council officials are preparing to aggressively market their service, which they claim is better value for money than the private sector.

“The participation rate on the pilot scheme was excellent. Around 80% of householders put out their dry recyclables for collection. In the pilot area we collected in excess of 500 tonnes,” Mr Kiernan said.

He said that on projected rates from the pilot scheme each household would put out 200kg of recycled material for collection each year.

“This compares very favourably with similar kerbside collections in Cork City and Dublin where the average is about 160kg per annum,” the engineer said.

The pilot scheme is being heavily policed so that no contaminated materials are accepted. All items should be washed out, especially such things as plastic milk cartons and baked bean tins.

“If contaminated material is left in the bin then it isn’t collected and a sticker is left on the bin stating why,” Mr Kiernan said.

The county council has 57,000 customers throughout the whole of Cork.

Mr Kiernan said it would be impossible to roll the system out in one go.

He said that work would start on introducing kerbside collection of recyclables in the rest of South Cork early in the year, with North and West Cork following after.

The county council claims that with proper recycling the average householder pays only €310 a year, while most of the private sector is offering rates of between €360 and €390.

The advent of kerbside collections throughout the county may lead to ‘bring sites’ being scaled back.