Nearly 3,500 Tonnes of Glass Recycled in Bedford Borough
In 2020/21, 3,465 tonnes of ‘high quality’ glass was collected from over 50 mini recycling sites across Bedford Borough.
According to RecycleNow, each time just one tonne of glass is recycled, about 580kg of carbon dioxide is saved through the supply chain.
This would mean that in just one year, Bedford Borough residents have saved over two million kg of carbon dioxide by dropping their glass off at local bottle banks, and this high quality sorted glass can be recycled and back on shelves as new bottles and jars within a few weeks.
At this time, the Council does not collect glass at the kerbside. Reasons include the fact that if glass was mixed in with other recycling it would result in lower quality glass and would cost the Council more to get it processed.
Any separate collection would require new waste vehicles and so increased emissions from the new collection across the Borough.
The Council is encouraging residents to keep using their local mini recycling site to drop off glass, and other materials, and keep these items out of the black bin waste.
Green councillors want to see kerbside glass recycling in Bedford. Lucy Bywater (Castle ward) said: “We accept that kerbside glass collection has its challenges, but it’s disappointing that the Council is dragging its feet when many other councils are able to collect glass for separate recycling.
“We know there is demand for this, especially from those who don’t have a bottle bank they can get to. So there’s glass unnecessarily going in black bins.”
Ben Foley commented: “The Council’s current approach makes recycling really difficult for people without cars. This was especially bad over the extended period when there were no bottle banks at the bus station open, until pressure from me got them put back!”
Cllr Charles Royden, Portfolio Holder for Environment said: “I would like to say a huge thank you to our local residents for recycling nearly 3,500 tonnes of glass locally.
“Glass is 100% recyclable and can be endlessly recycled with no loss of quality – this makes it a hugely valuable item to recycle. By recycling glass we can reduce non-renewable fossil fuel use, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
“It’s really important that glass is kept separate from black bin waste and from other recyclables to allow us to recycle as much as possible, and help us all to do our part for the environment. If glass gets mixed into the normal kerbside recycling your orange bin will not be collected as it will reduce the quality of other items such as paper for recycling, and broken glass is a safety risk for staff who hand sort recycling.”
You can find you closest mini recycling site for glass on our website at: www.bedford.gov.uk/MiniRecyclingSites
This Recycle Week – starting on September 20, we are all being asked to ‘Step It Up’ and we are celebrating the efforts of local residents to recycle and do their part to waste less of our planet’s natural resources.
“Recycling is small, simple but important habit that most of us already do to fight climate change. We are looking forward to the awaited publication of the Government’s waste strategy, with details about future recycling requirements and funding to ensure local councils can help their residents to recycle more.”
