Recycling - questions for you all..and how to start a co-op?

starlite_2

Hello

My road has recently won an award for the 'greenest' in our borough.
This is due to good relationships between neighbours and the not small feat a few of us have taken up to persuade others to recycle/ reuse/ compost as much as possible.
We are currently at a 91% rate.

I have friends living locally who do not have a recycling collection, and those without cars find it very difficult to store and deposit recycleables. I assume this is the case for many, they would if they could, but the hassle outweighs the benefits.

Not to mention that say, 50 households individually taking their recycling to the banks by car is much more environmentally damaging than one van taking it all.

Myself and some neighbours would therefore like to start a recycling business, many of them have vans, and we would probably aim that all those that sign up buy their own boxes and pay a small fee/donation for collection.

Is this feasible? We would be not for profit, and would encourage as much participation from those signed up as possible.

We have written to our local m.p as the discrepency in recycling facilities across the borough is appaling, and there are no immediate plans to extend the councils current scheme.

Obviously we would have few start up costs , but is it worth the small risk?Are there any national organisations that can help us with this?
Will we have to take into account public liability laws etc?
How do we avoid paying tax on the charges?
How can we apply more muscle on the council to review their appaling policies?
Are there places that pay for bulk amounts of recyclables so that we could do it all free and use the payment to cover petrol/leaflet costs etc?

So many questions..but I know you m.s.er's will be a mine of advice for us.

Thanks in advance.

starlite_2

okay..as noone has advice so far can i takethe opportunity to ask a few questions..

do you actually care about recycling/reusing/composting?

do you think your council provides enough facilities for this?

would you be prepared to pay, say £1 for somone to weekly collect all your recyclable materials..and even sort the ones you are not sure about?

would you be happy to buy your own storage tubs for this, or would us providing them make you more comfortablewith the whole idea?

Gingham_Ribbon

I think this is a great idea. I would try to get some kind of endorsment from an environmental agency or charity if possible so people know you are legitimate and not tipping it.

Ideally, people's rates should cover this so I'm not sure how many people would be willing to pay, but if I was convinced that everything was above board I would definitely pay. I think it's a great idea.

Savvy_Sue

I too think it's a great idea, but I suspect it's a minefield ...

At the risk of thoroughly depressing you, let me tell you what I know about the disposal of rubbish from the perspective of a small charity ...

We have our rubbish collected by a commercial company. They provide a small skip-type bin, and with the contract renewal comes LOTS of paperwork confirming that they comply with 101 EEC directives in order to dispose of the waste safely. So yes, what Gingham Ribbon says is correct, not only do you have to dispose of the waste safely, you have to PROVE that you doing so.

We were taking our recycling to the council waste disposal site: we'd conscientiously rinse and collect our tins and bottles and plastics, and pile up all our paper and cardboard, and someone would load it all in a car and head off. I suspect that when we were doing this, we were in breach of the council's regulations, because it is a HOUSEHOLD waste disposal site, and technically this was from work, although it's all very domesticated rubbish we produce. Oh, and posting shredded paper into slots in a recycling bin is no fun!

One day, we had more than usual so we loaded it all in the work minibus. My boss and the colleague who went with her wondered why all the men were waving at them, and then ... CRUNCH ... they realised there was a height restriction, and which they'd just exceeded. Not only that, they weren't allowed to unload the van away from the main site and haul it all in on foot, because it was a 'commercial' vehicle. And as neither of them had any money on them, they couldn't even PAY to get in commercially!

So, if you have a van of any kind, I'd expect you'd have either have to take your waste elsewhere, OR pay commercial rates. And if you try to get round it by taking it by car, there is a risk that the staff at the tip will recognise you - there was a case in the local paper a year or so back who accused someone of 'commercial' waste disposal, simply because he had a lot of rubbish to clear from his garage and made several trips!

Now the good news, we found a local recycling company who will come and collect our recycling. They provide plastic bags, and charge for them, and then collection is free! We've bought some large bins which we keep inside to sort the recycling, and when the bin is full, out goes the bag. They say they can also provide a bin for our non-recyclable stuff, and because they know what WON'T be in it, they should be able to undercut the company we currently use. I'm waiting for a quote.

As for how you put pressure on the local council, I'd have thought that might have been a good way to go, because all the time councils are using a LOT of landfill, they're being penalised, and it's not going to get any better.

So does Community Recycling Network look useful? I can't find the company we're using, and I'm at home now, and they may only be local anyway.

Another point: I believe our council plans to offer collection of green waste and cardboard for a charge of £40 per year. They did a free trial one year and I found it superb. They've just added a lot of recycling bins for plastic (which isn't roadside collected here) at local supermarkets and places like that, but the ONLY place you can take cardboard is to the waste disposal sites, and I find that really frustrating, because as you say it's not environmentally friendly to drive miles just to recycle! The last two times I've done the 'ferrying son to university' journey, I've added whatever cardboard I can find, because the Morrisons where I make my halfway stop for coffee has cardboard recycling. So why can't my council provide similar facilities?

Anyway, enough ranting, need to get another son ...

Savvy_Sue

Just wanted to add that I'm sorry if my post sounded very negative. I do think it's important that we recycle. I think you'd do better to supply the containers if you're charging for a service, so you can see that it is those who've paid for it who are using it, not 'freeloaders' IYSWIM. And I do like the fact that we only pay for the collections we need, by purchasing bags. This again should ensure that it's only those who have signed up to the service who can use it.

Also wondered if the neighbours without good recycling facilities could make positive suggestions about how this could be improved? I know that our council is installing mini recycling centres near shops near blocks of flats, for example, where a kerbside collection isn't possible!

But there is a danger that stuff gets 'dumped', for example when I've had a load of cardboard in my car and got to the supermarket where you can recycle everything BUT cardboard it's been tempting to just stash my boxes between the bins! I haven't, of course, but it's been tempting! And there's usually nasty heaps of carrier bags, or heaps of bottles just abandoned if the bins are full, and so on, so it needs some careful thought.

Debt_Free_Chick

Before you do anything, check with the borough council to see what plans they have to provide recycling in the future ... and when.

Councils have targets set by Government on recycling facilities and many have plans in the pipeline. Our local council has just awarded a contract so that every household in the council area will have doorstep collection next year.

You might find yourself doing something that the Council is already planning to do soon. So find someone sympathetic and knowledgeable to talk to in the council first.

HTH