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WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR TRANSPORT AND TECHNICAL SERVICES BY DEPUTY M. TADIER OF ST. BRELADE
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 7th JUNE 2011
Question
Following on from the introduction of some 'separation at source' litter bins by the Parish of St. Helier , does the Minister have any plans to introduce similar bins to areas under his Department's control and, if so, will he provide details?
Answer
On the go' recycling facilities have an important role to play in incorporating recycling into everyday life by bridging the gap between recycling at home and at work. There is still much work to do in these two areas by working with the parishes to establish household recycling collections and with businesses to develop their waste management solutions. My Department is currently focusing on both of these areas which will have a significant impact on changing behaviour and removing recyclables from the Island's waste stream. In time, once recycling is more established in the home and work environments, we will investigate ways to maintain behaviour change and on the go recycling facilities will then be considered.
It could be argued that this is a chicken and egg' scenario and the introduction to increase recycling facilities whether at home, at work or on the go would generate benefits. However, my Department must develop positive sustainable strategies that achieve value for money and we believe that the priority should be developing the areas that will result in the more widespread behaviour change and collect the larger amount of recyclables.
Despite this approach, it is important for on the go recycling to be included in the planning of future amenities so that these facilities can easily be implemented to support the work we are doing to change behaviour at home and in the workplace.
I would also like to comment on the term separation at source' used in the question which leads onto the second reason for my Department not introducing similar bins at this time.
The bins in use by the Parish of St Helier have three compartments: one for mixed paper (newspapers and magazines), one for plastic bottles and cans and one for litter. The collection of mixed plastic bottles and cans is referred to as a co-mingled' collection and while this compliments the household recycling scheme implemented by the Parish it is not without issue.
One of the key issues is that the materials that are collected together must be separated in order for them to be recycled. The Parish of St Helier are therefore separating the co-mingled recyclables into individual materials and my Department has so far avoided the associated manpower, equipment, transport and energy costs by asking the public to separate their recycling into different materials before using our bring bank recycling facilities or the household recycling schemes that my Department has developed with the parishes of St John, St Lawrence, St Mary and Trinity .
The importance of segregating different materials at source to minimize contamination was outlined in the Solid Waste Strategy, agreed by the States in 2005. This approach has served the Island well as we were able to sustain secure markets for the Island's recyclables throughout the market decline in 2008/9 as a consequence of the global economic slowdown. Collecting separated rather then co-mingled materials means that we are exporting a high quality of recyclables and this is essential if we are to maintain a sustainable and robust market for Jersey's recycling.