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Wandsworth's simple new Orange sack scheme looks set to lead to a sharp rise in the number of local households that take part in the recycling revolution reports the Council. Early indications are that the scheme, which began on Monday, has already seen a large increase in the number of homes recycling their waste. Recycling collectors have reported that many more homes are now using the council's Orange coloured recycling sacks. For the first time residents can now use a single colour sack for all their recycled waste. The distinctive Orange sacks can be filled with paper, card, glass, tin cans and - also for the first time - plastic bottles. All of these items can be mixed together in the same sack The new easy-to-use service is being made possible because of the advent of new machinery that enables different recyclable items to be separated and sorted from a single sack. Town hall chiefs are, however, urging people not to use their Orange sacks for anything other than glass, paper, cardboard, tin cans or plastic bottles. If the sacks, which are transparent, contain items other than this, the sack will not be collected and the resident will need to transfer its contents to a regular black binliner. This is to ensure that the recyclables are not contaminated by general refuse. And because plastic bottles can now be recycled in Wandsworth for the first time, people are being reminded that other types of plastic should not be added to Orange sacks. At this stage, only plastic bottles can be collected. These include all drinks bottles, detergent bottles and shampoo bottles. Other plastics like yoghurt pots, clingfilm, carrier bags, margarine tubs and ready-made meal containers cannot be recycled and should not be put in the sacks. These different types of plastics will be collected for recycling when reprocessing plants in the UK agree to accept them. The new recycling service has been introduced for 83,000 Wandsworth households. People haven't needed to register to join the scheme - all eligible properties have been included automatically. 2nd April 2003 |