Last Updated : 9 November 2009

Monmouthshire Community Recycling will be closing down on the 27th November 2009
Please see newsletter for details.

Zero Waste Castle

Organisers of the Abergavenny Food Festival have reported another first for the event – reducing waste to only 19% in the Zero Waste Castle Challenge. With environmentally-friendly packaging and a full range of recycling and composting facilities at the Castle site, contractors, traders and visitors were all involved in the Challenge.

Throughout the Festival Monmouthshire Community Recycling collected and sorted items from recycling bins across all areas – these include plastics, cans, glass and cardboard.

On top of this a new project was tried out – the Zero Waste Castle. The aim was to work with traders and to offer visitors an environmentally sound outlet for everything discarded on the Abergavenny Castle site during the Festival, leaving as close to zero waste as possible. This tied in with the ‘Love Food, Hate Waste’ message promoted in the Castle. As well as the recycling bins there were additional collections for compostable material – napkins, paper plates and any food waste. This was taken by Bryn Compost in South East Wales, who supported the project.

In total over 3.5 tonnes of recycling and composting came out of the Food Festival over the course of the event, saving 1.7 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions compared to landfill. In the Castle the recycling rate was 81%, with nearly all traders providing compostable food packaging and visitors making full use of the bins.

David Roman of MCR commented:“Unsurprisingly not much of the food on offer made it as far as any sort of bin – reducing waste is always the best option, so this was good news. But all the packaging, peelings and scraps were turned into compost, a lot of which goes back into food-growing, as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions. All the bottles, cans and cardboard boxes were separated at source and recycled. We are very pleased to have reduced the Castle’s waste to 19% at our first attempt, and want to thank all the visitors and traders that contributed to this success.”

MCR Customer Survey

MCR carried out a survey of its residential customers – anyone within the area offered its kerbside service – over the period January to May 2009. The results in summary are given below:

• 316 households were surveyed across most parts of the county, of whom 93% (295) said they used the service
• The survey took place in daytime and evening sessions, to try to balance the demographics, and using random addresses
• Most of those that did not participate said that they did not have a box, but were happy to start if one was supplied
• Where a basic service is offered (paper, glass, cans and textiles) 65% requested plastic collection and 15% cardboard
• Where plastics and cardboard collection is on offer 99% of participants put out plastics and 91% cardboard, while the most requested material to add was plastic bags/polythene
• Nine out of 10 were happy with the box and happy to separate materials within it to help crews maintain quality – of those unhappy the main complaint was where only one box or smaller than usual boxes were provided.
• 97% said they were confident that what MCR collected was being recycled – of those that weren’t several commented that they would like to see more information in the local paper or a newsletter about what happens to what they put out.
• The most commonly read national paper amongst those participating was the Daily Mail – although it has run many stories about recycling gone wrong, it’s readers appear to have faith in the system they have locally!
• 99% rated the service as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’

In response to the survey, MCR issued boxes, lids or dividers where requested, and will be letting customers know about the range of containers available. MCR will also seek to publicise the destination of materials – this is already being included on the website, but will also be sent to local papers and if possible included in a mailout of a general newsletter. Finally MCR will look into the viability of collecting plastics and cardboard across a wider area, and trialling polythene recycling in its Zero Waste Village areas.

Zero Waste Winning Formula

Monmouthshire's Zero Waste Village Project was presented with the Innovation Award by Environment Minister Jane Davidson at the Wales Recycling Awards 2008. This is a partnership of MCR with Monmouthshire County Council, Abergavenny Communities First and St Arvans Community Council amongst others - more information on the 'Zero Waste Village' page. The minister praised the project for setting a standard for Wales - the high diversion rates in St Arvans and the rapid improvement in participation in Abergavenny provide a model for Welsh Assembly Government long term strategy. St Arvans is not far off the proposed target for 2024!

The winning formula is now being rolled out to a number of other pilot areas - over 2000 more households in the Wye Valley and parts of the south of the county. The basic idea is:

1. Two boxes for recycling
2. Collect as much as possible that can be recycled (including plastics and cardboard)
3. Talk to residents, listen to residents

The slogan for the full service is 'Little Effort, Big Difference'.

Chepstow goes Plastic Bag Free

The Chepstow Bag – an alternative to plastic carrier bags – was launched during the Chepstow Festival in July. The Plastic Bag Free Chepstow project is a partnership between Monmouthshire Community Recycling, Transition Chepstow and Keep Wales Tidy, with funding from the Welsh Assembly Government.

Transition Chepstow set up a stall on the High Street to give out the Chepstow Bag, a fairtrade, organic cotton bag featuring a design by local artist Susie Grindley. In the first day over 1000 were claimed using the vouchers in Chepstow Festival programmes. Vouchers can still be redeemed in a number of local shops displaying the Plastic Bag Free Chepstow poster, and a second issue of vouchers is planned to ensure everyone has an opportunity to pick up their bag.

For its part, MCR has conducted litter surveys before and after the Chepstow Bag launch to determine the effect its introduction has on carrier bag litter in the town. Monmouthshire residents can now request a recycling box with a fixed divider to avoid using plastic bags to separate their recycling. Telephone MCR on 01291 430550 to request a box.