Kerbside recycling collections have proved so successful in recent years
that the number of recycling banks in South Somerset is being reduced.
Glass, cans, paper, aluminium foil, clothes, shoes and car batteries have now been collected weekly from the kerbside for several years and have helped residents achieve one of the country’s top recycling rates.
The only materials (apart from larger bulky items) that cannot currently be recycled kerbside are plastic bottles and cardboard, but many towns are served by Household Waste Recycling Centres that collect these.
The kerbside collections and improved Household Waste Recycling Centres have led to lower usage of the permanent recycling bank sites.
But the costs of maintaining these sites has gone up sharply due to misuse and vandalism, and some of them were even being covered in paint, making the load only fit for landfill. Even where the sites were still being used, usage is far lower than when there were no kerbside recycling collections.
Currently plastic bottle banks at:
- Lyde Road in Yeovil
- Morrisons in Wincanton
- Martock Waste Paper in Martock
- Tesco in Langport
- Shudrick Lane in Ilminster
Where can you recycle?
If you live in or near these towns, please remember you can recycle the same materials from your kerbside each week, and click here to find information on your local Household Waste Recycling Centre.
For more information on what you can recycle from the kerbside please click here.
Looking forward to the future…
South Somerset District Council aspires be able to collect plastic bottles from the kerbside in the future, and discussions over how this might be possible have been continuing.
Councillor Tom Parsley, South Somerset District Council's Environment Portfolio Holder and Somerset Waste Board member explains:
"South Somerset's recycling services have developed over the last few years and these improvements have brought us to the point where we are able to review the situation. With kerbside collections taking a lot of materials we now have two services doing pretty much the same thing.
Some recycling bank sites are becoming more expensive and fly tipping, vandalism and site maintenance are all paid for by council tax payers. By maintaining the Household Waste Recycling Centres and keeping some of the strategically placed bring banks, along with the kerbside collections we are finding a good balance."
South Somerset residents currently recycle more than almost any other district in the country, with a county wide recycling rate of around 50%". |
