Oldham soaring up green league table

Borough goes from bottom spot to third

OLDHAM Council has soared up a green league table after more than doubling recycling rates.

The authority has leapt from rock bottom to third place in Greater Manchester’s Recycling Table after recycling rates leapt from 15.5 per cent to 37.19 per cent in three years.

Council chiefs have praised residents for the success, saying public enthusiasm has driven the dramatic transformation.

In 2006-7, the authority ranked as the the worst performance in the county – and among the bottom 5 per cent of all UK local authorities.

But the latest statistics, for 2008-9, show the council is only bettered by Trafford (49.41) and Stockport (43.04) locally.

Improvements escalated after a new system of managed weekly collections (MWC) began being rolled out across the borough from October, 2007.

The service now provides around 91,000 households with brown bins for glass, cans and plastic bottles, a bag for recycling paper and card, plus a new food waste caddy collection that is already the third largest in the UK.

Council leader Councillor Howard Sykes said: “This recycling revolution is the result of terrific joint effort between Oldham Council and local residents.

“We’ve only just finished rolling this system out to the more geographically remote and difficult to access properties, but the positives are already there for all to see and citizens have bought into what we’re trying to do with great enthusiasm.

“Our recycling service faced many challenges and we decided — by investing an additional £500,000 in the mini-budget of July 2008 — to offer a tailored service that would meet the diverse needs of all our communities.

“A one-size-fits-all approach was never going to succeed in Oldham and our staff have worked incredibly hard to make this bespoke service work.

“When you put this recycling performance alongside other evidence — like the Government survey which recently found we had the most litter-free streets and footpaths in the region, or the national plaudits our parks have been receiving — we are clearly moving in the right direction in our aim of delivering a cleaner and greener Oldham.”

The new statistics show that residents recycled 7,470 tonnes of paper and card (up 94 per cent on 2006-7), 6,044 tonnes of glass, cans and plastic bottles (up 71 per cent), plus 1,996 tonnes of food waste. The amount of refuse sent to landfill has also been slashed by 25 per cent to 54,492 tonnes.

Councillor Mark Alcock, cabinet member for environment and infrastructure, said: “I want to pay tribute to residents and staff for the significant roles they have all played in this success.

“When these statistics are verified by Government later this year, we expect this performance to place us in the top third of local authorities nationally. We are determined to ensure that this upward trend continues as the potential benefits of this to council tax-payers are significant.”




Success repeated across county



HARD work and commitment by home-owners and councils has seen recycling rates rise across Greater Manchester.



Figures in the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority’s annual report show rates have risen from 26.8 per cent in 2006-7 to 31.6 per cent in 2008-9.

GMWDA has also met, and in some cases exceeded, targets to minimise landfill waste as well as keeping key stakeholders up to date with progress reports on the new recycling and waste management contract which will bring up to date facilities across the region.

Community meetings have been held to keep residents informed and a website was set up to track developments.

GMWDA is the largest of six English waste disposal authorities created under the local Government Act 1985.

The Partnership provides waste disposal services for 973,000 households in Oldham, Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside and Trafford.

Councillor Neil Swannick, chairman of GMWDA, said: “This is another successful year for the authority with significant key achievements. We are looking forward to the challenges for 2009-10, especially implementing and managing the recycling and waste-management contract.”