Principles of the strategy
All Derbyshire councils are working together to reduce waste and to increase what is recycled and composted. And to drastically reduce the amount of waste buried in the ground.
Reducing waste to landfill is necessary as waste in landfill produces greenhouse gases as it rots, damaging the environment. Landfilling of waste also means that valuable materials such as metals, glass and wood are lost which could have been reused or recycled. The costs of landfilling waste are also increasing year on year.
The Derbyshire councils are committed to increasing recycling/composting and have set a joint target of 55 per cent by 2020.
Efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle rubbish are essential parts of the strategy and initiatives in support of this include:
- Expansion of kerbside collections of materials for recycling/composting. A number of councils have recently introduced a third wheelie bin for collecting recycling.
- Provision of local recycling banks.
- Provision of nine Household Waste Recycling Centres including a new one opened in August 2011 at Northwood near Matlock.
- Development of an in-vessel composting facility at Waterswallows, near Buxton. With a further one planned in the Chesterfield area (subject to planning approval).
- Raising public awareness of a whole range of waste reduction, recycling, reuse, and composting services.
- Promotion of specific campaigns including Love Food Hate Waste, home composting, real nappies and recycling of small electricals.
However, even with increased efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle more of our waste, we will still be left with just under half that will need managing in other ways to avoid it going to landfill. This waste will need to undergo some kind of treatment.