Recycling in Sutton has increased under a new waste and recycling service introduced by Sutton Council working together with Veolia. Although the implementation of the new waste contract has been challenging, expected dividends are now being realised.
In April 2017 Sutton residents recycled 52.35 per cent of their waste, compared to 38.26 per cent in April 2016 - an increase of just over 14 per cent. In May 2017 residents recycled 51.47 per cent of their waste, compared to 40.43 per cent for the same period the previous year.
Residents put 900 tonnes less rubbish into their brown (general rubbish) wheelie bin and more than 600 tonnes of food waste have been recycled.
The recycling levels are based on the previous year’s performance and unaudited figures from the South London Waste Partnership.
Cllr Jill Whitehead, Chair of the Environment & Neighbourhood Committee, said: “These figures provide an early indication that new recycling measures introduced in April are successfully reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill.
“This is a very positive step forward in helping us achieve our key objectives: to increase the borough’s recycling rate and reduce costs by saving £10.3 million.
“For a small proportion of residents, the service is still not operating as it should. Sutton Council is working very hard with the South London Waste Partnership and our new contractor Veolia to resolve those issues as soon as possible.
“I would like to thank residents for embracing the new service and helping Sutton to recycle more and waste less.”
A spokesman from Veolia said: “We would like to thank residents for their help in significantly improving the recycling rate.
“We have invested significant amounts of additional resource into getting the new collection service running smoothly. As a result, the majority of Sutton residents are now receiving reliable collections. We continue to work hard to resolve the remaining issues.”