Monmouthshire has record year for recycling

Monmouthshire residents have diverted nearly 20,000 tonnes of household waste from going to landfill sites in the past year Monmouthshire County Council (MCC) revealed this week.

Paul Quayle, MCC's Waste Strategy Officer, said:

"It's business as usual for recycling in the county.

"Demand for some materials, paper in particular, has fallen as a direct consequence of the global economic slowdown. This has meant that demand, and therefore prices for some materials have dropped. However, demand does still exist, and for some materials, including glass, it remains strong.

"Monmouthshire County Council is committed to recycling and is continuing to provide recycling services as normal for local residents."

As a nation, the UK recycles around 9.7 million tonnes of glass, paper, plastic packaging and other materials per year. Between 2007 and 2008, the waste collected from households alone and recycled is estimated to have saved 6.5 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent - that's the same as taking 2 million cars off the road for a year.

Eric Saxon, Cabinet Member for the environment at MCC, said:

"In Monmouthshire recycling has been a great success story - in 2008 we managed to save 19,800 tonnes of waste from going to our local landfill sites alone. We are proud of this achievement and would like to applaud our local residents for their recycling efforts.

"There is no reason why this fantastic achievement can't continue into 2009.

"Remember that recyclable materials you do not put in your recycle bin will definitely end up in landfill, which is both costly and bad for the environment.

"Financially, despite the fall in prices for recycled materials, recycling is still more cost-effective than sending waste to landfill. Although the price for some lower quality materials, such as mixed papers - which are among the most affected materials - has reduced, it is still preferable to paying £70 to send it to landfill. That makes economic sense for us as a Council and for our council tax payers."

To find out more about what happens to some of the materials recycled in Monmouthshire visit www.monrecycling.co.uk

You can also visit the Recycle Now website - www.recyclenow.com

- for information and advice on recycling, as well as tips on reducing the amount of household waste we throw out.