Kerbside recycling: indicative costs and performance

The increase in national recycling rates achieved by local authorities since the publication of Waste Strategy 2000 has been impressive.

The growth from 7% to 31% in 2006/07 has been achieved through a mixture of investment and ingenuity, but it has resulted in the creation of a number of different collection systems with many local variations.

Although opinions about the merits of the different systems are often firmly held, there has so far been little objective evidence about their cost and effectiveness or about the quality of the material they produce or the implications for service standards to customers.

This report is intended to provide a systematic appraisal of the characteristics of the principal kerbside recycling collection systems looking at both their cost and effectiveness. WRAP will support this by further work looking at managing material quality within municipal recycling systems and how to underpin customer support for these new systems.

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