Selby extends kerb recycling

7:36am Wednesday 7th May 2008

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MORE than 4,000 extra householders can recycle their garden waste after Selby District Council rolled out more of its kerbside recycling services.

The new homes added to the scheme are in Barlby Bridge, Brotherton, Byram, Burton Salmon, Fairburn and several parts of Selby, including the Flaxley Road, Brook Street and the Portholme Road areas.

Coun Chris Metcalfe, the chairman of Selby District Council's environment board, said that by recycling grass cuttings and hedge trimmings and the like, people in Selby could not only help prevent climate change, but also help local farmers.

He said: "Composting your garden waste through this scheme ensures that the material can be used by local farmers, rather than just being left for landfill.

"Selby District Council continues to invest in further developing kerbside collection services for many different materials.

"By recycling and composting more we can all help to reduce the amount of waste being dumped in holes in the ground.

"Dumping waste in this way costs local authorities and, therefore, local taxpayers, and rotting waste produces methane gas, which contributes to climate change.

"Composting garden waste through the scheme benefits the local environment and the local rural economy, which is why we are rolling-out this successful garden greens scheme to more and more properties across the district."

A spokesman for the district council said the garden waste collections were only one part of the recycling service that had been developed by the authority.

As well as garden waste, residents could also have materials such as paper, card, foil, cans and glass collected from their home.

The garden material is turned into compost by a number of local farmers and used on their land.

Since the scheme started in 2001, nearly 20,000 tonnes of green waste has been collected for composting in the local area.

That is the equivalent of nearly 2,000 bin wagons' worth of waste that has been diverted from local landfill sites.