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New Service For West Oxfordshire

22 November 2010

May Gurney today launched a new waste and recycling service for West Oxfordshire District Council that, it says, is expected to achieve a combined recycling and composting rate of more than 60 percent in the first full year.

It includes new weekly food waste collections, and free fortnightly optional garden waste collections for any household that has registered, so far 29,000 have. Non-recyclable rubbish will be collected fortnightly with weekly recycling collections maintained, as under the previous system. Co-mingled recycling collections are currently in operation and kerbside-sort will be phased in after the launch of the new service.

With more opportunities to recycle it is hoped that West Oxfordshire residents will meet the Oxfordshire Joint Waste Strategy target of 45 percent recycling by 2015. Currently residents recycle around 34 percent, which falls short of the 40 percent required by 2010.

The new service is expected to save West Oxfordshire council tax payers over £500,000 a year in operational costs and avoid more than £2m in landfill costs and fines over the seven year contract.

Nicola Peake, managing director Environmental Services, May Gurney says: "We are delighted that West Oxfordshire District Council has appointed May Gurney to provide its waste collection service. We have worked with the Council to design a scheme that will achieve the best results for increasing local recycling rates and reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill.

"The food waste collection is an important part of the new service and it is estimated that in West Oxfordshire about a quarter of the average rubbish bin's content is food waste, so recycling food waste will significantly reduce the amount sent to landfill. Also, in May Gurney's experience once people see how much food they are wasting, they usually cut the amount they throw away by around 25 percent, reducing waste and saving residents money."

Peake continues: "Once fully operational, the kerbside-sort recycling and waste collection service will also allow a greater proportion of the waste to be recycled as the material collected is cleaner, undamaged and of a higher quality so attracts a higher value from recycling processing companies. The alternate weekly collections of general waste are also integral to improving recycling rates."

Cllr David Harvey, West Oxfordshire District Council's Cabinet Member for Environment, said: "May Gurney has worked with us to formulate a waste and recycling service that will dramatically increase West Oxfordshire's recycling rates and we have carefully planned out the service change to ensure a seamless transition for residents. Our residents have told us that they want more opportunities to recycle and this service will deliver just that."