Recycling message fits the Bill (From Western Telegraph)

Recycling message fits the Bill

Although Pembrokeshire recycled a groundbreaking 15% of its waste last year, the overall recycling rate in the UK is still only 11%. A Bill debated in Parliament on Friday seeks to change that in under ten years.

The Municipal Waste Recycling Bill aims to reach a target of recycling 50% of household waste by 2010.

Originally it was a Bill to promote doorstep recycling and to an extent it still is. But instead of requiring local authorities to provide collections of recyclables for all households, it calls for them to keep a check on their recycling facilities and regularly report the volume of waste recycled. They would also have to give details of the number and percentage of homes that recyclables are collected from - if, indeed, they offer any doorstep collection.

Friends of the Earth (FoE) believes at least 80% of our waste could be recycled. But, like charity, the battle to get people to recycle more begins at home. The Environment Agency reckons nine out of ten people in Wales and England would recycle more if it were made easier. If it is right then doorstep recycling has surely got to be the answer.

FoE believes the Bill is a real chance to take serious steps forward on recycling but say it won't rest until everyone has a doorstep service.

Another part of the Bill calls for local authorities responsible for collection and disposal of waste to publish a sustainable waste strategy within one year of the Act coming into force. Pembrokeshire County Council's waste strategy already includes plans to introduce what they prefer to call 'kerbside' recycling to 40% of households by 2005 and 80% by 2010.

If all those households make use of the service, Pembrokeshire will continue to be one of the greenest in the UK.