As reported on these pages, this month, the theme of Reduce/Reuse/Recycle is headlining the Sidmouth Eco Hub.
And as reported by Eco Hub lead, Bernie Davis, last weekend’s session went very well – and we can look forward to the next one next weekend:
Reduce/Reuse/Recycle
We live in a material culture where all kinds of stuff is bought and consumed regularly. For example, food, clothes and household items. Less often items like TVs, bicycles and furniture are purchased. To mitigate the impact on climate change we have the options to reduce our consumption, to reuse possessions and materials or to recycle unwanted waste products.
As the limits of our natural resources and the dangers of global warming have been discussed and debated residents are being encouraged to find ways to reduce their consumption and reuse objects rather than buying new ones. In fact, a whole new culture of buying second hand or repairing broken/damaged goods is growing through retail outlets like charity shops and eBay. In Sidmouth we are also fortunate to have a Repair Cafe whose work in 2023-24 prevented 1,219 tonnes of waste and saved consumers £8,138.
Every week my husband and I conscientiously sort and organise our waste and empty containers into the allocated bins, bags and boxes to be picked up in a big lorry and taken away to be recycled. We believe we are doing the right thing that is best for the environment. We hope that we are reducing waste, pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and also saving energy and natural resources. However, we realise that we have limited specialist knowledge.
So, it’s with great interest that we will take the opportunity to attend Eco Hub Sidmouth and meet the EDDC recycling officers in order to ask them questions about where our recycling goes and what happens to it. The next session on the topic of Reduce/Reuse/Recycle will take place at the library on 22nd March from 11:00-1:00.
One element of interest is the policy of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) that is due to come into effect in 2025. Although responsibility for managing packaging has fallen on local authorities in the past, this policy is designed to make the producers of packaging, such as that found in supermarkets, responsible for the costs of managing their waste. This includes expenses related to collecting, recycling and disposing of packaging materials. The goal is to encourage companies to use more sustainable packaging and reduce environmental impacts.
Do come to Eco Hub Sidmouth at the Library on 22nd March to find out more.
Bernie goes on to say this:
Steve Maclure, EDDC officer attending on Saturday, sent me the following answers to some questions I posed – and we can use them in any way we feel free. The Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is particularly interesting and it’s coming into force soon…relatively:
I should be okay to answer any questions on the day but have provided some information below which you may find useful. Angela has also kindly provided an update about EPR for you.
Looking forward to meeting you on the 22nd.
- Where does Sidmouth’s weekly recycling content go? What happens to it?
The dry recycling (paper, card, glass, plastics, tins and cans, electricals, textiles) go to Greendale Depot to be bailed and they are then transported to the various re-processors. All of the materials have a value, and the income received from the re-processors goes back to the council to fund the collections and other essential council services. Food waste goes to an Anaerobic digestion plant in Somerset and is used to create renewable energy and soil conditioner.
The table below shows where our materials have been sent to recently:
| Material | Processor Location | April 2024 | May 2024 | June 2024 | July 2024 | August 2024 | September 2024 |
| Paper | Norfolk | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Cardboard | Kent | 12% | 21% | 47% | 25% | 54% | 51% |
| France | 33% | 21% | 26% | 50% | 6% | 21% | |
| Sweden | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 11% | 0% | |
| Avonmouth | 0% | 7% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| Poland | 55% | 51% | 27% | 25% | 29% | 28% | |
| Steel Cans | West Glamorgan | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Aluminium Cans and Foil | West Glamorgan | 0% | 50% | 0% | 0% | 50% | 0% |
| Wiltshire | 100% | 50% | 100% | 100% | 50% | 100% | |
| Plastic Bottles, Pots, Tubs and Trays | West Midlands | 20% | 80% | 9% | 41% | 23% | 0% |
| Northamptonshire | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 9% | |
| Avonmouth | 0% | 0% | 0% | 17% | 0% | 0% | |
| Derbyshire | 80% | 0% | 73% | 34% | 55% | 49% | |
| Nottinghamshire | 0% | 20% | 18% | 8% | 22% | 42% | |
| Glass Bottles and Jars | Monmouthshire | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Small Electrical Equipment | Durham | 100% | 0% | 100% | 100% | 0% | 100% |
| West Glamorgan | 0% | 100% | 0% | 0% | 100% | 0% | |
| Green Waste | East Devon | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Food Waste | Somerset | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Clothes and Textiles | Northamptonshire | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
- How much of our waste plastic is actually recycled? How does that work?
We sell our plastics as a mixed plastic load to UK re-processors. As with any industrial process there will be some element of waste material in the mix as we are dealing with items placed in recycling bags by the public. Often items such as plastic bags, plastic film or expanded polystyrene are incorrectly placed in the kerbside containers and the contaminate the material. The re-processors have sophisticated equipment to separate the various types of polymers and any contaminants are disposed of appropriately. The proportion classed as contamination is a small percentage of the overall tonnage. Most of the material collected is recycled. Our East Devon material is mixed with recycling from many other councils at scale when it lands at the reprocessing plant.
- What happens to plastic that cannot be recycled?
The contaminants may be sent to an energy from waste plant if value can be extracted from the material as a fuel source (as with our residual black bin waste). Some materials may be redirected to an alternative recycling process.
- Does what we do with recycling make a difference? If so, how?
Yes, absolutely it does. If we did not recycle the carbon footprint of creating new materials from virgin sources would be very high by comparison and we would be using up the worlds valuable resources unnecessarily. In the UK we want to keep materials in the loop and promote the circular economy.
- Does any of our waste, recycling end up going abroad, e.g. to China or elsewhere?
Occasionally we send material to Europe (see above) but these materials are sold and have a value to the reprocessor. For peace of mind please see this section of our website Recycling, the environment and our responsibilities – East Devon
- Extended producer responsibility
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) – EPR is a policy designed to make businesses that supply or import packaging responsible for the costs of managing packaging waste. This includes expenses related to collecting, recycling, and disposing of packaging materials. The goal is to encourage companies to use more sustainable packaging and reduce environmental impacts.
How Will EPR Affect Local Authorities? Currently, local authorities shoulder the costs of managing household packaging waste. With the introduction of EPR in 2025, these costs will shift to the producers of packaging. Here’s how this transition will affect local authorities.
Extended producer responsibility for packaging: local authority payments – GOV.UK
Flexible plastics
Supermarkets have been collecting flexible plastics for some time and there has been some negative press recently about what happens to the material (ie some of it has been sent to energy recovery centres to create renewable energy instead of being recycling into plastic products).Despite the negativity I expect supermarket collections have provided a valuable opportunity for the recycling facilities to soft test their processing capabilities at scale for this material. No doubt the supermarket groundwork will have helped to identify gaps in the infrastructure/technology that will be needed in the future. Other learning about consumer participation will have been very useful too I expect. EDDC are not involved in the supermarket collections so I cannot comment further but feel free to write to them directly.
One thing we know is that from 2027 flexible plastics must be recycled by local councils. A large ‘Flexcollect’ trial which involves nine local councils (including Somerset) is 2-3 years down the line now. This scheme is looking to try and recycle flexible plastics into products such as plastic packaging, bags for life, boxes, bins and agricultural/construction materials. The trial aims to gather further insights on the collection and recycling of flexible plastics and this will help to inform future waste management strategies. The ultimate goal is to establish a circular economy for these materials, reducing reliance on virgin plastics and minimizing environmental impact.
We will write to all East Devon residents about Flexible plastic recycling when the time is right for us to roll out this new service.
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