Today the council has started to run out new glass collections bins that will be “quieter for residents and safer for staff”. But are loud bins really the biggest issue that Brighton’s recycling system suffers?
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© Chris Yarzab
The new management team at Cityclean certainly seem to think it’s one of them. Assistant director Rachel Chasseaud has explained that she hopes that the new bins will improve staff health and safety and the quality of service for residents:
There are issues we’re finding as part of our review, and we’re in the process of resolving these. For instance, as well as the smaller bins that will help reduce noise for residents, we will work with staff to improve safety for all.”
Last week, The Brighton Journal reported that Brighton and Hove City Council were investing £690,000 in city-wide initiatives to help combat climate change, which led to a range of interesting comments from our readers about recycling.
The general consensus was that Brighton’s waste management and recycling systems are not up to scratch. Residents explained that they were annoyed that currently the council only accept one type of plastic, ‘plastic bottles and not even the lids’ and that the fact that there is ‘a serious lack of mixed recycling bins in the center of town’. Compared to other cities this is not great, considering the fact we have a Green MP.
The Guardian recently reported that Brighton and Hove has the very low recycling rate of 30% , which is partly due to the plastic restriction as a result of a contract with Veolia.
Caroline Lucas said in this article:
“Brighton and Hove council have a 30-year PFI contract with Veolia. They are refusing to change the contract so that a wide range of plastics can be recycled. The council doesn’t have the £1m for the required machinery at the Veolia plant to enable a wide range of plastic to be recycled.”
The outrage surrounding recycling in Brighton has led to an online petition ‘Improve Brighton and Hove’s recycling scheme #DontStopTillYoureGreeEnough‘ that demands more action from the council.
This council needs to develop a comprehensive recycling strategy so that Brighton can become a truly green city moving forward.
Tea Mengeghetti, who started the petition has made some broad recommendations for how Brighton council can improve their recycling strategy.
Plastic
“Given this city’s pride in its sustainable ethos, embodied by its zero waste plastic businesses, environmental community action groups and beach clean up events, Brighton should be leading the change among UK cities aiming to reduce, reuse and recycle ubiquitous plastics.”
He explains that the ‘piecemeal recycling effort’ has meant that Brighton has consistently raked among the worst council areas for household waste management in the UK: “At only 27% last year, the city languishes far behind the national average of 42.6% for recycling rates and is less than half of the most efficient councils of South Oxfordshire (66.6%), East Riding of Yorkshire (66.1%) and Surrey (62.1%). “
Composting
Mengeghetti goes on to explain that after moving to Brighton “We immediately started researching what recycling scheme was in place. We were appalled to find that information wasn’t readily available and kerbside recycling options were limited” and calls to “make food composting the norm, and not a virtuous act”.
Awareness
The petition also claims that there is currently a lack of information and guidance surrounding food waste and recycling strategies in Brighton and calls for “better direction and promotion from the council”.
It concludes by requiring that “Brighton and Hove council to improve the current recycling strategy and prove itself to be a truly progressive city.”
If you want to sign the petition, the link is available here
As reflected in our recent features about the Clean up team working on the A27, The introduction of an anti-litter team, and the volunteers involved in the Tidy Up Team, residents in Brighton seem to value the local environment, and are keen to help out. But is the council doing enough?
