£1.7m boosts recycling and cuts waste (From Free Press Series)

£1.7m boosts recycling and cuts waste

TORFAEN council has been given a £1.7 million boost in its bid to cut the amount of rubbish sent to landfill.

The cash will fund extra vehicles and more staff for community-based recycling projects.

Two years ago Torfaen council was rapped on the knuckles by the National Audit Commission for its meagre four percent recycling rate.

With the amount of municipal waste expected to double by 2020, the pressure is on nationally to dramatically cut the amount of rubbish authorities bury.

Existing landfill sites in Wales are expected to be full by 2010.

Last year, weekly doorstep recycling took off in the borough, thanks to the efforts of not-for-profit company Torfaen Community Recycling and Torfaen council. Torfaen is now one of a handful of councils in Wales being supported by the Assembly to meet a recycling target of 50 percent by 2007.

The extra money comes from the National Assembly's Strategic Recycling Scheme, which funds partnership-based projects across Wales.

Councillor John Cunningham is Torfaen's executive member for operational services.

He said: "This means we can start work on some new and exciting ideas, and will also be able to improve the projects we have stated.

"We have got to work together to improve the environment by reducing what is sent to landfill. There is so much thrown away that can be recycled and reused."

The borough's weekly doorstep collection of glass, paper, cans and clothes is to be backed by an "extensive publicity and promotional campaign", according to the council.

This is aimed at getting more people involved and to boost the amount of waste collected.

Two other schemes to benefit are the furniture and IT recycling schemes, both run by the Garnsychan Partnership in Garndiffaith.

The cash will pay for more staff and new vehicles for both projects, which specialise in collecting, revamping and redistributing furniture and IT equipment.

There are also plans to fund a composting facility which would deal with the kerbside collection of green waste and kitchen waste.