Black bag rubbish is down by a half

Around 2,125 tonnes of black bag waste was collected between January and June 2019. This compares to 5,100 tonnes for the same period in 2018.

The introduction of weekly food waste pick-ups accounted for most of the decrease, with more than 1,700 tonnes collected from households in the first half of this year.

Kerbside recycling has also increased – up by around 500 tonnes compared to the first six months of 2018 – and the amount of glass recycled has gone up by around 15% since the introduction of collections.

One of the major drivers for the increased recycling has been the switch to fortnightly collection for general rubbish, which coincided with the introduction of food waste and glass pick-ups in September 2018. The new pay-as-you-throw charge for non-recycled waste, which came into effect in February, has also prompted a shift in behaviour.

Guernsey Waste operations manager, Sarah Robinson, said it had been monitoring the changes.

‘What we saw was a very large shift in behaviour, with lots more using the recycling collections, who did not previously,’ she said.

‘We saw another increase after the pay-as-you-throw charge came into effect, albeit not as marked. However by that stage we were already seeing very high participation across the board.

‘What it does demonstrate is that islanders are keen to recycle, and if we provide the right services, and the right incentives, they will use them.’

A survey of more than 1,000 homes in Castel and St Peter Port, in June, found that more than 90% of households were using doorstep recycling services.

In an identical study in June 2018, prior to the changes to collections and charges, 74% of households used the blue and clear kerbside recycling. In the most recent survey, that figure had risen to 92%.

More than 90% of households were separating their food waste collections, and 77% of households put out all three items during the four weeks of the survey.

Take-up of glass collection was lower than for the other materials, with 59% setting out their bag at least once during the same four weeks. However this is expected to underestimate participation, since most households have relatively little glass, so may use the service, but set out less frequently than for other recycling.

A separate waste composition study in May this year looked at the contents of waste and recycling set out by more than 200 households in various locations.

The latest results found that only around 8% of the general rubbish being thrown out was potentially recyclable. That is around half the proportion recorded in 2015 and 2018, and has decreased from 25% in 2012, before the first kerbside recycling collections were introduced.

The headline participation data excludes households who have communal collection points, where it is not possible to say which house has set out each container.

However these were included in the survey, and an standard method was used to estimate their take-up of the services. When these were included with the other data, overall participation for all households was still estimated to be above 90%.