Well done Greater Manchester!
A report will be going to a Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority (GMWDA) meeting next Friday (19th October 2007) which will say ‘Well done Greater Manchester’, following improved performance for the period April to June 2007.
The April to June 2007 recycling and composting performance totals 32.17% compared to the achievement for the same period last year of 25.63% - an impressive increase of 6.54%. The overall improvement is said to have been assisted by a great amount of public participation through their council recycling services and improving facilities at Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs). This improvement in recycling levels continues the trend of previous years and in addition has shown great achievements in waste minimisation, as the amount of waste arising during the April to June ’07 period has decreased by 4.29% against the national picture of growth.
Speaking today Councillor Neil Swannick, the Chair of the Authority said:
“We are thrilled to see how well Greater Manchester is doing not just in the important area of recycling but also in the vital area of waste reduction. There has been a large amount of work by GMWDA and the nine collection authorities, but the largest pat on the back really has to go to the residents of Greater Manchester as these results could only have been made possible by the daily participation of residents across the conurbation.
It will be great to see these fantastic results continue and go from strength to strength once the proposed ‘world class’ treatment facilities for Greater Manchester are in place. GMWDA’s new contract for waste services will mean that even more recyclables can be extracted from the waste stream and alternatives uses will be found for waste rather than it all going to landfill. The contract will also give an even more significant push on education so that the important steps of waste reduction, reuse and recycling become even more part of routine.”
NOTES FOR EDITORS
GMWDA is the largest of six English waste disposal authorities that were created under the Local Government Act 1985. GMWDA provides waste disposal services for 958,000 households in Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside and Trafford. It handles around 5% of national municipal waste.
The Authority is in the later stages of a procurement of a 25 year waste services contract using the Private Finance Initiative (PFI). In January 2007 the Authority appointed the Viridor/Laing consortia as its Preferred Bidder. The Authority has subsequently provided details of the emerging technical solution and new infrastructure.
For further information please call Anna Figgins-Barrett, Communications Manager on 0161 770 1721.