Witney News - Commercial waste recycling scheme extended

Commercial waste recycling scheme extended

With 130 tonnes of refuse diverted away from landfill in just nine months, the District Council's waste recycling collection scheme is being extended for another year.

Launched in June 2007, it is proving a big hit with over 120 customers throughout West Oxfordshire already signed up to have cardboard and glass collected. And with last year's highly competitive prices held for 2008-09, more clients are expected to join.

The District Council launched the service following a survey that showed that 93% of the firms contacted would rather recycle their waste than send it to landfill.

“All our waste cardboard used to go in with the rubbish for landfill and we were feeling very guilty about it,” says Zoe Wraight, Manager of the Usborne Publishing archive store at Stanton Harcourt. “So the West Oxfordshire District Council recycling service is just the job as it helps us honour our commitment to be as green as we can.”

On glass recycling, Tom Gee of the Clanfield Tavern says “People should be encouraged to recycle and I'm glad we now have an alternative to throwing empty bottles into our wheelie bin. The waste glass is collected bang on time every time and there’s no mess left behind.”

Clients including pubs, restaurants, factories and other commercial premises have the choice of four different sizes of waste collection bin and these are emptied on Saturdays. The competitive price of the services means that clients can expect to make considerable savings over a year in comparison to normal waste collection charges.

Cardboard recycling for traders at Witney Market was introduced last October with collections every Thursday. Collections could be extended to other West Oxfordshire markets in due course.

Cllr David Harvey, Cabinet Member for the Environment says, “The overall viability of our commercial waste collection service will be reviewed in Spring 2009. In the meantime we are exploring opportunities to offer commercial customers an enhanced service to collect a wider variety of waste materials for recycling.”

“Recycling more is a must to help us achieve our priority goal of protecting and enhancing the environment of West Oxfordshire and maintaining the district as a clean and beautiful place.”