Green scheme scrapped as household recycling is sent to landfill

It could be the end of the green dream for Britons who do their bit for the environment by recycling household rubbish.

By Jasper Copping Last Updated: 8:59AM GMT 23 Nov 2008

After years of rapid growth in the amount of waste recycled, signs have emerged that the world financial crisis could halt the trend.
One council has scrapped a recycling scheme due to a global collapse in the market for waste materials, and is diverting recyclable waste to landfill sties instead.
Hertfordshire county council has withdrawn a scheme that allowed residents to recycle everyday items like yoghurt pots, margarine tubs and other types of plastic packaging, because it has become uneconomical to do so.
The items will now go into landfill sites and the council has asked residents to avoid buying products with too much plastic packaging.
It is thought to be the first case of a local authority scrapping a recycling scheme in response to the recent collapse of the market, as global demand for recyclable materials slumps and prices fall so low that councils and their contractors cannot shift their waste, which is now worthless.
However, industry experts fear more could follow suit and the Local Government Association (LGA) is writing to all councils urging them to resist the temptation to divert recyclable rubbish into landfill.
The Association is already in talks with the Ministry of Defence about using former military bases to stockpile material that cannot be recycled.
The LGA has held emergency talks with Defra, the Environment Agency (EA) and the government's waste quango, Wrap, about the crisis, after which the EA announced it would relax its rules to make it easier for councils to store waste that they could not sell to recycling firms.
The decision by Hertfordshire means that it will no longer accept so-called "mixed plastics" for recycling at its 19 waste collection sites.
However, it will still recycle "rigid" plastics, including bottles and items like garden furniture, and kerbside collection schemes in the county will not be affected.
Councillor Derrick Ashley said: "We're disappointed by this news, as we're sure residents will also be. However, we do appreciate that due to the global financial crisis, there simply isn't the market for some recycled plastics at the moment."
The decision follows a collapse in the price of mixed plastic from about £200 a tonne to almost nothing, as demand from China dried up.
Other prices have seen similar falls, including scrap metal, steel and aluminium, cardboard and mixed low-grade paper and cardboard. Only glass and top quality paper prices have remained steady.
Mountains of plastic bottles, paper and steel cans are expected to build up over the coming weeks and experts predict the problem will be exacerbated by the Christmas festivities, which traditionally sees a surge of packaging materials and drinks containers filling recycling bins.
Dozens of councils and their contractors are understood to have already started storing waste, although few have publicly admitted it, fearing it could undermine public support for recycling schemes.
In Oxfordshire, plastic bottles and card are piling up in depots. Wayne Lewis, spokesman for the Oxfordshire Waste Partnership, said: "At present, despite lower prices, we are managing to recycle material. We are still finding a market for it. But, yes, small amounts are now going into storage at our contractors' depots."
Community Waste, in Milton Keynes, works as a contractor for a number of councils. Its director, Richard Cutts said: "The situation is extremely serious. Few realise just how serious.
"We are continuing to recycle rather than store 2,000 tonnes of waste a week – and that is costing us £70 a tonne. Obviously, we cannot continue to do that forever. At all costs I want to avoid material going to landfill and I am sure that by working closely with customers a solution can be found."
Bristol City Council has also said it is considering starting to stockpile.
The collapse in recycling could strengthen arguments for incinerators to burn waste.
Staffordshire county council is currently one authority trying to construct an incinerator, against strong opposition from environmentalists and local residents.
A spokesman for the LGA said: "We're surveying councils to find out what is going on. A lot of councils have fixed term contracts with companies to deal with the waste, so are not yet feeling the effects.
"Other councils are having problems and are not able to get rid of their waste. There have been measures to help to store waste at their sites. In the longer term, we are looking at ex-military bases. We want them to avoid using landfill."