The battle to deal with the county's waste has come into sharp focus in recent months, following reports that the county is running out of space to deal with domestic waste.
Cornwall has one of the best recycling rates in the country, boosting the county’s green credentials, a new report shows.
The document, produced by Cornwall Council’s senior waste policy officer, ranks Cornwall in 15th out of 81 unitary authorities, with a recycling rate of 36.23 per cent.
According to the report, which will be presented to the council’s waste development advisory board today, the county’s householders send nearly a quarter of domestic waste to “dry” recycling collections. But less than 12 per cent of “wet” waste — such as food scraps — is also recycled.
Report author Rachael Bice says it is difficult to compare Cornwall with other authorities because of differences between their collection schemes. However, the county is praised for its high rate of dry recycling.
The report states: “Cornwall’s overall performance on dry recycling is very good and in line with the best-performing authorities.”
The battle to deal with the county’s waste has come into sharp focus in recent months, following reports that the county is running out of space to deal with domestic waste.
Homeowners have also been asked to make significant contributions to recycling in the wake of plans to introduce an energy-from-waste incinerator in the heart of the Mid-Cornwall countryside.
A public inquiry into the £300 million plant is due to conclude this month. However, campaigners say massive health risks would arise if the plant was built in St Dennis. French company Sita, who have bid for the waste collection contract, say the incinerator would process 240,000 tonnes of municipal waste a year and see 90 lorries visiting the site every day. It would be capable of handling all Cornwall’s domestic waste and converting it into electricity and heat to power 21,000 homes.
Cornwall Council operates weekly residential and fortnightly recycling collections, whereas many of the other top-performing authorities run fortnightly domestic waste collections, as well as weekly food and garden waste collections.
The report states that despite having only two types of collection, Cornwall is still ranked “relatively highly” in terms of overall recycling.
“The focus in Cornwall on encouraging householders to divert waste into home composters rather than running extensive, subsidised garden waste collections, has resulted in lower wet recycling rate.”
Julian German, Cornwall Council’s cabinet member for waste and the environment, said: “We’re very pleased that the recycling rate is among the top performing authorities. We work hard encouraging people to recycle, and so it is good to hear that households are supporting this.
“Cornwall is a beautiful place, and it is great to know that so many people are engaging with idea of recycling.”
The report’s findings have been backed by environmental campaigner Lindsay Southcombe, who is part of the Transition Truro group.
She said: “I know that the former Carrick District Council had a very good recycling rate, so it is good to see Cornwall Council continuing the good work.
“However, our main concern now must be to address food waste.”
Mr German said any changes to the black bag and recycling collections would be made in 2012, but added: “Things are working well in Cornwall, although we are open to suggestions.”