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5.0 RESULTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Trends in recycling rates

Before the trial started the average recycling rate in the trial area was 12%. This was mainly achieved through the red and blue box dry recyclables scheme. The first collection of organic waste immediately increased the amount of recycling. Figure 1 below tracks the changes in the recycling rate throughout the trial. Although the recycling rate averaged out to 51% over the trial period, the recycling rate was over 60% by the end of the trial during the Summer.

5.2 Recommendations

The project has been successful in significantly increasing the recycling rate in the trial area, diverting organic waste from refuse to centralised composting, keeping to a minimum contamination of the organic waste and encouraging high levels of public acceptance for the trial. No one element of the project can be identified as being the key to this success but the following elements are thought to have played an important role in the success of the project:

• reliable collection services coupled with rigorously enforced collection policies
• partnership and collaboration between the project partners
• provision of kitchen bins, assisting householders to collect kitchen waste
• easy access to information via a helpline and home visits
• conveying the message to children as well as adults

For those wishing to reproduce the successes of the Daventry Green Waste Trial, the following are suggestions for similar initiatives:

• High levels of communication to householders using clear and simple messages.
• Opportunities for householders to give feedback on the scheme.
• Evaluation of the effectiveness of the communication methods employed.
• Extra help and advice to assist householders in understanding the needs of the collection service, including home visits and practical waste reduction advice.
• Communication with collection crews to help staff understand the importance of the recycling collections and assist them in altering how they perform the collections.
• Reliable and consistent collection services in order to increase participation rates and acceptance rates.
• Provision to the public of operational information on the recycling scheme such as collection dates and targeted materials provided on a regular basis through a variety of media.
• Provision of kitchen pre-sort bins to householders free of charge.
• Analysis of the waste and recyclate collected to assess which materials are being captured and identifying those materials or messages that may require further promotion.
• Working in partnership with the community, public and private sectors

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