Crushing win for city team

11:14am Friday 26th May 2006

FIVE new vehicles which will allow York council workers to add plastic bottles to the city's kerbside recycling scheme have been unveiled.

More than £500,000 has been invested in the specialist vehicles, which will initially only be available to the 60,000 households signed up to alternate weekly waste collections.

Produced by Dutch manufacturer Terberg, the vehicles will ensure a broader range of recyclable materials can be diverted from landfill sites, according to City of York Council.

They have been paid for using Government funding awarded to the council for making a commitment to exceed its statutory recycling targets.

The collection vehicles have the ability to crush cans and plastic bottles as they progress along their routes.

This means they can carry a much greater quantity of material than the old-style collection vehicles, which struggled to cope with the increasing amount of materials collected for recycling.

During the second half of 2005, the council says demand for additional kerbside recycling boxes and bags soared, and the tonnage collected increased by more than 25 per cent.

The new vehicles will also make the phased roll-out of cardboard recycling collection possible, and this will begin in some areas of the city from March 6.

As revealed in the Evening Press last week, fortnightly household waste collections - opposed by our Bin It! campaign - will resume on March 6.

More than 7,000 residents signed a petition protesting at the changes imposed last October, and supported the Evening Press in its attempt to retain weekly collections, while promoting recycling initiatives.

Geoff Derham, the council's general waste manager, said: "We are always looking for ways to improve our services and provide as much opportunity as possible for people to recycle.

"Feedback we have received from residents suggested that a plastic bottle and cardboard collection would be a welcome addition to the kerbside recycling scheme.

"The crushing facility offered by the new vehicles has made it possible for us to introduce plastic bottle recycling to all those properties that receive a green bin collection, freeing up more space in their grey bin.

"This should address the concerns that some residents had about the scheme initially."

Coun Andrew Waller, the council's environment chief, said: "This should allow more residents to help York become an eco-friendly city. I am pleased that we have received some money back from the Government, considering the millions of pounds we have spent in Landfill Tax."

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