Sth T & W Leaflet Rubbish

8/8/2019 Sth T & W Leaflet Rubbish

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A load of

rubbish?

Y o u t h r o w

a w a

y

m y w e

i g h t

in r u b b i s h e v e

r yy e

a r

The facts about our waste



We have to reduce

Landfill

We’re running out of space:we need to act now



Landfill produces methane – the greenhouse gas with thehighest environmental impact

Landfill effects last for generations

Fact:

Fact:

Fact: Nationally and locally we’re running out of space

The story so far Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland councils are working

in partnership to look at how to tackle rubbish in the future

(South Tyne and Wear Waste Management Partnership).

Now:In Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland we produce

370,000 tonnes of rubbish every year – that’s enough to fill

40,000 double-decker buses! We only recycle around 26% of

our household rubbish. We know we can do better and we must

do better because:

The law is changing to protect

the environment

Landfill will keep getting moreexpensive and this will cost youmoney, through your council tax

We need to see ourrubbish as a resourceand get value out of it -

instead of just throwingit away

Fact:

Fact:

Fact: We need to do something now

We need to drastically reduce the amount

of rubbish we put in the ground



Fact:

People recognise we have to deal with the waste that’s

not recycled. It’s up to us to find a solution

We are considering nine potential solutions for treating the wastethat’s left

We are looking at environmental criteria, deliverability,cost to you and performance

We simply cannot continue to landfill alone

Fact:

Fact:

The Future:We need to:

G Double the amount of rubbish we recycle to 50% by 2020

G Drastically reduce the amount of waste going into landfill by 75% by2020

G Develop a way of dealing with the waste that’s left

T h e m

o r e w e u

se landfill, t h e m o r e

y o u ’ l l p a y

i n c o u n c i l t a x



G You can put your paper (newspapers, magazines, junk mail, white telephone directories, envelopesand all other white and coloured paper), glass(bottles and jars, washed, with lids removed)

and steel and aluminium food, pet food anddrink cans and aerosols into your Kerb-It box for collection.

G We are also looking at ways to increase therange of materials that can be recycled byyour Kerb-It scheme.

G There are many recycling centres and

recycling banks to recycle old clothes,shoes, cardboard, cartons, plastic bottles,glass, paper and food and drink cans.

Let’s sort the facts

from the trash…

Recycling

Myth:

There’s plenty of space

for landfill and it’s

cheaper to dump ourrubbish in there, rather

than recycle it

Not true. Nationally andlocally we’re running out of space.The Government charges councils forevery tonne of rubbish that is put inlandfill. Landfill will keep getting moreexpensive and this will cost youmoney, through increases in yourcouncil tax.

Reality:

Myth: Recycling is too much effort

Rubbish! It’s never been easier to recycle –Reality:

37 0 ,0 0 0 t o n n e s o f r u b b i s h a r e p r o d u c e d e v e r y y e a r i n G a t e s h e a d ,S o u t h T y n e s i d e a n d S u n d e r l a n d



G There are ways to recycle your unwanted white goods and furniture.

Sunderland Community Furniture Service refurbishes furniture andhousehold goods and redistributes them to north east people whoneed them.

For information: 0191 549 4343, www.scfservices.org.uk

Renew North East is a charity that recycles electrical appliances byrefurbishing them for resale. Any money from the resale goestowards training the technicians who repair the goods.

For information: 0191 469 7068,[email protected],

www.renewnortheast.co.uk

The Recycling Village at

Middlefields, Tyne Dock recycleswhite goods such as cookers,washing machines and fridges;televisions and computers andother electronic devices like

hairdryers and dvd players. Thereis also a shop there that will takeyour unwanted furniture to resell.

For information: 0191 427 2064,[email protected],www.southtyneside.info/recycling

Other companies and recyclingcentres in the north east thatrecycle your unwanted furniturecan be found by visiting:

www.frn.org.uk

www.gateshead.gov.uk/recycling

www.southtyneside.info/recycling

www.sunderland.gov.uk/recycling

You can

reuse and

rec ycle i tems

such as old

furni ture



E ig ht billionplastic car r ie r bag s ar e use d

e v e r y y e ar – moste nding up inlandf ill site s

Myth:

My rubbish is only a small

proportion of what everyone

throws away each week - it

won’t make any difference if I

recycle it

Not true. Eachhousehold in the UK producesabout one tonne of rubbishevery year – the same weight asa young elephant! If you

recycled most of your tonne ofrubbish you would make a hugedifference. It’s your rubbish –you have a responsibility to dealwith it. Reduce, reuse, recycle!

Reality:

Myth:Getting new carrier bags

when I’m out shopping won’t

do any harm

Yes it does.There are eight billion carrier bags

used in the UK each year -that is 135 bags per personper year and most of thoseend up being thrown away.By taking reusable bags orold carrier bags to thesupermarket and shopsyou’ll help to prevent all this

unnecessary rubbish.

Reality:



Myth:

I don’t need to recycle because

the bin men will pull out the

things that can be recycled

No they won’t. The refusecollectors have a big enough jobas it is – they don’t have thetime or the facilities to do this.It’s your responsibility to putyour recyclables in your Kerb-it

box and it’s so easy to do.

Reality:

Myth:

There is no point recycling

because it’ll end up in a

landfill anyway

Wrong! Almost 100% of allmaterials collected for recyclingare recycled. A very smallpercentage of material is notrecycled because the wrongmaterials were put out for

collection or because they weretoo dirty to be processed.

Lots of companies such as thoseon www.recycledproducts.org.ukrely on recycled materials tocreate their products. Ifeverything really went to landfill,

these companies wouldn’t exist.

Reality:

We need to double

wha t we rec ycle to

50 % b y 2020



No, it’s not OK. There is a lack of oxygen underground in landfill whichprevents rubbish from decomposing. If it does break down it createsmethane - a potent greenhouse gas that causes climate change.

Some of your waste can becomposted - vegetable peelings,teabags, eggshells, cardboardand paper are just a few of the

things that will decomposeeasily in a well-managedcompost bin where air cancirculate.

Composting createsa fertiliser that canimprove your soil.

If you don’t have agarden, the

fertiliser can be used for plant pots, house plantsand window boxes or you can giveit to gardeners or allotment holders.

Your council has teamed up with Recycle Now

to offer compost bins starting at just £17.To order a bin contact 0845 077 0757.

To find out more about home composting visitwww.recyclenow.com/home_composting

To ensure your food that cannot be composted isnot wasted check out recipes onwww.lovefoodhatewaste.com

Reality:

Myth:

It’s OK to throw away food because it breaks down naturally

U s e d t e a b a g s m a k e g r e a t c o m p o

s t

U s e d t e a b a g s m a k e g r e a t c o m p o s

t



Dealing with the

rubbish that’s left

Rubbish as a resource…

When we’ve recycled and composted as much of our rubbish as

we can, we then have to deal with the rubbish that’s left. Here are

some answers to questions you may have about the options for

treating our remaining rubbish.

QUESTION: Why can’t we recycle all

our rubbish - then we wouldn’t

need to treat or landfill any of it?

ANSWER: We would love to be able to

recycle 100% of our rubbish and weshould all aim towards this. But, howevergood we are at recycling, there’ll always

be some rubbish that can’tbe recycled – either

because the technologyto recycle it doesn’texist or isn’t availablein this area or becauseit’s not sustainable.

Landfill produces

methane - the most

damaging

greenhouse gas



QUESTION: What are the options for dealing with the 50%

of our rubbish that we don’t recycle?

ANSWER: Nine technologies are being considered by the partnership

but no solution has yet been chosen. Some technologies that will beconsidered are:

G An Energy From Waste Facility

This is an efficient process which burns rubbish with very low levelsof emissions and produces electricity which can be sold to theNational Grid plus steam for heating hospitals, homes and otherbuildings.

G Mechanical Biological Treatment (through Aerobic Digestion)

This is essentially a large scale composter of rubbish that createseither a soil improver, like a fertiliser, or reduces the amount ofmaterial that needs to be landfilled.

G Autoclaving

This involves sterilising rubbish byusing steam. Some of the by-productscan be recycled or converted to fibre

for use as a fuel or building productsor can be landfilled.

But these aren’t the only options...

It could be a mix of the above oranother solution that is put

forward by waste companies

when we ask them to proposepotential solutions.

Which is best?

There is no easy answer to that.We will look at environmentalcriteria, whether a particularsolution can be delivered, costto you, the residents andperformance of that solution.



QUESTION: Will the treatment facility be unsightly?

ANSWER: If we develop a new waste treatment facility it will be

designed so that it fits easily into its environment. The way any newtreatment facility looks will be a key consideration.

QUESTION: If you build a treatment facility, where will it be?

ANSWER: During consultation, you told us that you want us to deal

with our rubbish locally, rather than transport it somewhere else. So anynew facility is likely to be within the partnership area.

Until we see what solutions the waste companies can offer then choosethe best solution, we don’t know where it will be located. There may bean existing facility, meaning we won’t have to build a new one at all. If atreatment facility is to be developed a full planning consultation will takeplace.

We need to deal

with the waste we

can’t recycle or

re-use



QUESTION: Will the treatment facilities have an effect on

people living nearby?

ANSWER: We will ensure that any waste treatment facility has as little

impact as possible on the nearby community.

Will it be noisy?The main noise coming from any of these facilities will be from vehiclescoming and going. But the hours the plant operates will be limited totimes of the day that will not cause a nuisance to the local community.

Will it smell?

All waste treatment facilities are strictly regulated and have systems inplace to limit any odours.

If mechanical biological treatment processes are controlled carefullythere should not be any odour created by rubbish that is breaking down.The facilities are enclosed and must be fitted with ventilation and filtersystems to prevent odour and dust from escaping.

Energy from waste facilities are also enclosed and must be fitted withventilation and filter systems to prevent odour and dust from escaping.

Similar controls as mentioned above will be in place for autoclaving,which is a new and emerging technology.



We need to turn

our rubbish into

a resource

Will there be emissions that can affect my health?

All waste treatment facilities are strictly monitored by the EnvironmentAgency and must comply with rules that ensure that any gases producedare thoroughly cleaned and constantly monitored.

Mechanical biological treatments are enclosed to limit emissions. Gases

(carbon dioxide and methane) are produced but these are captured andcan be used for energy and heat production. Emissions can be producedby all treatment options due to the burning or heating processesinvolved. The outputs must be strictly controlled to meet emissionslimits set by the European Union.

Modern clean burn processes, like the energy from waste plants wecould consider, show no evidence of significant health risks. Modern

facilities create 99.8% less emissions than the old ones. Their totalemissions are only 0.2% of the old incinerators.

As there are no existing large scale autoclaving facilities, it is difficult tocomment on emissions, but these will be monitored and subject tosimilar checks and regulations as energy from waste and mechanicalbiological treatments.



QUESTION: How much will the treatment facilities cost?

ANSWER: Until we make decisions on a provider, the technology and –

if it’s required – a site, we do not have exact figures. What we know is,it will be significantly cheaper because we are working together as apartnership, rather than approaching potential suppliers as individual

authorities. If we do nothing and carry on land filling it will cost muchmore than any of the alternatives, both financially for us all and for theenvironment.

Contact Information

For more information or to give us your feedback:

If you live in Gateshead www.gateshead.gov.uk/recycling

If you live in South Tyneside www.southtyneside.info/recycling

If you live in Sunderland www.sunderland.gov.uk/recycling

We all need to reduce, reuse, recycle!

W e can’t s

lip u p w h e n i t c o mes t o w a s

t e -w e h a v

e

t o

a c

t

n o w



Different Formats

If you would like this

information in a different format

– Braille, large print, on

audio cassette/CD or in a

different language please

contact Communications at

Gateshead Council on

0191 433 3444.

Produced by South Tyne and Wear Waste Management Partnership.July 2008.

Printed on recyclable material. When you have finished withthis leaflet please recycle it in your Kerb-it box. Thank you.

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