A conference on the theme of ‘Real Recycling for Zero Waste’, organised by the Zero Waste Chartists, was held on Saturday 28th June 2008 in Chelmsford. The Zero Waste Chartists are a UK campaigning group established to encourage waste minimisation, reuse, composting and recycling. Zero Waste is about the sustainable use of the world’s resources, designing waste away and not creating a legacy of pollution and wastage for future generations.
Supporters of the Zero Waste Charter, signed up to by many local authorities, met to explore ways to promote the Campaign for Real Recycling, which is supported by Friends of the Earth, the Community Recycling Network, and all the major reprocessors who want clean recyclate from separated kerbside collections.
LibDem, Labour and Green county and district councillors attended from Essex and Suffolk, joining a LibDem councillor and a Green councillor from Norwich City Council and zero waste campaigners from Surrey, London, Cambridge, Norwich and Essex.
Well-received presentations were delivered by Brian Head of Berryman glass, Gill Denbeigh of Aylesford paper mill and Stuart Foster of Recoup (plastic reprocessors’ body), who showed the value of real recycling in energy and climate change terms and the need to support our UK reprocessors by providing valuable clean recyclables.
The conference also showed off a ‘Fame’ flatback kerbside collection vehicle, with separate metal stillages for sorting the colours of glass at the kerbside – metals are usually also collected in a larger separate stillage, for sorting by magnet at the depot. These are purpose-built in Colchester, and are used at various places, such as York, Harrogate, Gloucester, Gwynedd, Redditch, Oldham, Waltham Forest and Colchester.
According to conference organiser and tireless waste activist Paula Witney:
“These collection vehicles provide an excellent way to separate glass at the kerb and I haven’t seen a better vehicle. WRAP’s recent report shows that separated kerbside collections are much cheaper than collecting in wheelie bins or sacks, compacting in wheelie bin HGVs and thundering the compacted and contaminated materials to central costly MRFs to be mechanically-sorted for a high gate fees and materials of dubious quality.”
Zero Waste is a global movement which aims to create a climate of both producer and consumer responsibility for our waste. It entails re-designing products and changing the way waste is handled so that products last longer, materials can be recycled, or, in the case of organics, composted. If you would like to join the Chartists please contact Paula Whitney, Co-ordinator, Zero Waste Chartists Coordinator, Colchester & NE Essex FoE, by sending an e-mail message to: paula.essexfoe@btopenworld.com