Plans for kerbside collection of glass

Therefore, may I ask why time, effort and wages/vehicle costs are still being wasted on these collections?

BOB MILLS,

St Sampson's.

Editor's footnote: Deputy Paul Luxon, minister, Public Services Department, replies:

The question of glass recycling has been raised a few times since arrangements for new kerbside collections were announced. I am happy to use this opportunity to address some of these points.

Firstly, as your correspondent rightly points out, glass is no longer shipped to the UK for recycling. However, that is because we are able to process it on island, unlike other materials, such as paper and plastic, which have to be exported for recycling.

Last year, through the bring banks, we collected around 1,800 tonnes of glass – the only material we collect more of is paper.

All the collected glass is crushed locally and used as aggregate replacement in construction projects. So every time you take a bottle or jar to the bring bank, you help reduce the amount of aggregate that needs to be imported for the local building trade. A number of firms now buy this material from us and by processing it on island, we save tens of thousands of pounds a year compared to recycling in the UK.

We will continue to collect glass through the bring banks when the new kerbside recycling service is introduced in March. It has not been included in the main list of materials we will be collecting during the initial interim scheme, as it presents additional issues. Chief among these is the need to keep it separate, because mixing broken glass with other materials will, at best, reduce any income we receive for these. At worst, it could mean we have no market at all, and that would undo all the effort islanders have made to recycle. As with so many other things in life, quality counts.

However, we do want to include glass in kerbside collections in the future. What the interim kerbside scheme provides is an opportunity, over the next two years, to test different options and find the optimal solution for Guernsey when the full, final kerbside scheme is introduced in 2016. We will trial collections of glass on a limited number of rounds, so we can learn from this experience and hopefully iron out any issues.

In the meantime, we are asking islanders to keep using the bring banks for glass. Some people have questioned the point of having kerbside collections without glass, saying if you have to go to a bring bank, you may as well take the lot.

We should bear in mind that while most of us are fit enough that a trip to the bring banks is not a problem, there are islanders for whom it can be an issue, however much they would like to recycle. Kerbside collections will help them greatly, even if we can't yet take their glass for them.

With the interim scheme, we will be collecting most of the recyclables households produce. Gone will be the hassle of separating all these materials, getting them into your car, taking them down to the bring banks and then putting them individually into the bins. All that will be much easier and much more convenient. And although glass is one of the heavier materials, most homes now probably have relatively few glass bottles and jars. So hopefully islanders won't have trouble keeping these in their home and then making a much quicker visit to the bring banks when they are out and about.

Given the wonderful effort islanders already make to recycle, we think most will still be happy to do this. A survey we carried out at the recent HomeLife Show last year does give us even more confidence. More than 95% of recyclers who filled in our questionnaire said they would be happy to continue using the bring banks for glass. We hope that once the new service is up and running, the remaining 5% will be quickly persuaded, because we are sure they want to maximise the amount of glass being recycled.

Hopefully in the future, if we can iron out the issues during the interim scheme, glass will soon be included in kerbside collections, and we will be recycling even more than we are now.'