Waste Management

MORPETH ROTARY RUBBISH TALK

Morpeth Rotary member Dr. Wendy Fail got everyone up to date on waste management in the north east.In Northumberland there is very little waste sent to landfill. There are differences between Northumberland, North Tyneside and Newcastle on what can be recyled. North Tyneside accepts glass as their vehicles have a split compartment. General waste goes to Teesside where it is burnt to make electricity. Newcastle accepts glass, their waste is baled and sent to Sweden through Port of Tyne to be burnt. Northumberland waste collection is very complicated as every area used to be a district and each district had different colour bins. It makes it very difficult to send out information on what goes in which bin, while it would cost millions to standardise the bin colour. Northumberland waste goes to the French company Suez under a 27 year contract. It then goes to Teesside to be burnt. Northumberland does not accept kerbside glass although they are holding a trial collection from 5000 houses and a trial waste food collection from some houses in Morpeth and Bedlington. Recycling loads are sold and the income helps to keep down council tax bills. There are still problems where people have contaminated loads with used nappies, food waste and even dead dogs. Contaminated loads are rejected with a loss of £1500 of income plus a fine of £2000.