06 : 15 am |3rd September 2010

News

ZERO WASTE VILLAGE WINS INNOVATION PROJECT OF THE YEAR AT THE WALES RECYCLING AWARDS

22/10/2008

A zero waste village initiative, run by Monmouthshire Community Recycling (MCR)*, which has seen some of the best recycling rates in Europe with 95% of residents in the village of St Arvans recycling and recycling rates in urban North Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, almost doubling from 36% - 69%, in just three months, has won The Innovation Award in the Wales Recycling Awards, it was announced last night.

Presented by Environment, Sustainability and Housing Minister, Jane Davidson, to MCR who run the project in partnership with Monmouthshire County Council, the Wales Recycling Awards were held to promote excellence in recycling in Wales. The Awards were organised by Cylch (Wales Community Recycling Network).

MCR decided to set up the Zero Waste Village initiative to see what could be achieved when efforts were focussed on two very different areas; St Arvans village and urban North Abergavenny (which has been defined as a Communities First area by the Welsh Assembly).

The concept was simple;

• Make it as easy as possible for people to recycle as much as possible on their doorstep
• Provide everyone with two recycling boxes marked with their address to help them recycle more
• Knock on every door to offer advice and encourage people to recycle
• Listen to what residents say and act on their feedback
• Introduce new initiatives based on what residents say they want
• Motivate everyone to carry on recycling by having ongoing community fun days, events, launches and feedback

And what a success!

The project was launched in June 2007, with a celebration of waste reduction and recycling, including St Arvans’ first Zero Waste Week.

In St Arvans

• 18 materials can be recycled on the doorstep including food and garden waste

• Additional materials were subsequently added to the existing kerbside service, such as plastic bottles and other rigid plastic and paper drinks cartons

• Printer and toner cartridges, mobile phones and household batteries were added

• In response to residents feedback in St Arvans, where many of the villagers have wood burning fires - ash is now being collected as part of the green waste collection.

In North Monmouthshire

• 12 materials can be recycled including plastics and cardboard

• In response to residents feedback, 100 residents were helped to set up home composting (in addition to the food waste collection service already being provided)

And that’s not all……Plastic Bag Free Chepstow

As part of the project and in association with Keep Wales Tidy, MCR carried out a litter analysis in Chepstow; an area with a high number of tourists. It showed the area suffers from litter caused by a high number of plastic bags.

In response, through the Zero Waste Village Initiative, MCR in partnership with Transition Chepstow, introduced ‘My Chepstow Bag’ – a highly popular reusable shopping bag that is now stocked by over 50% of the shops participating in the project.

David Roman, Executive Director of MCR commented. “We are delighted to receive this Award on behalf of all the residents, shopkeepers, recycling crews, staff and our council colleagues, who have worked so hard to put Monmouthshire on the map when it comes to being the best in terms of recycling. We now have plans to roll out Zero Waste initiatives throughout the whole of the Wye Valley, in the south of the County and beyond.

“We certainly feel it’s a model that could be replicated throughout the UK and shows just what can be done by recycling contractors working in partnership with local authorities, residents and businesses”.

Notes for Editors

1. The Awards are organised by Cylch (Wales Community Recycling Network), an umbrella support organisation that represents the interests of Wales based community sector organisations engaged in the business of recycling or reuse.

2. *Monmouthshire Community Recycling (MCR) is a partnership between Monmouthshire Environment Trust and ECT Recycling CIC (a May Gurney Company) Tel: 01291 430 550. Website: www.monrecycling.co.uk

3. Photographs are attached of;

a. MCR and Monmouthshire County Council team being presented with their Award by Environment, Sustainability and Housing Minister, Jane Davidson
b. Wye Valley resident and Spice Girl Mel C getting into the recycling habit using MCR’s doorstep service
c. MCR Zero Waste Village Scheme in action

4. Interviews with David Roman, Executive Director of MCR and photography/filming bids of the projects in action are available on request