Councillor praises those 'leading the way in Kent'
Residents of Tonbridge and Malling recycle more of their household waste than anywhere else in Kent, according to latest government figures.
The annual analysis carried out by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) shows that households across the borough recycled 51.6 per cent of their rubbish. The average across Kent was 43 per cent with a national average for England of 42 per cent.
Kerbside collections of waste for recycling were introduced in Tonbridge and Malling in autumn 2019. Recyclable material such as paper, glass, plastic and metal are sorted and transported to specialist processing centres. Non-recyclable material is sent to the ‘waste to energy plant’ at Allington, near Maidstone, where it is incinerated to produce electricity. Across Kent, less than two per cent of waste is sent to landfill [source: Kent County Council].
The record figures come in spite of problems which have hit waste collections in Tonbridge and Malling and other council areas due to a combination of factors, including the Covid-19 pandemic and a shortage of HGV drivers. The borough saw recycling rounds halted for several weeks in the summer of 2021 and garden waste services remain suspended with interim collections being provided.
The council is working with its contractor, Urbaser, to restore fortnightly garden waste collections while seeking to further improve recycling rates in the borough. A trial of recycling collections for flats, which were not included in the initial roll out of the service, is currently operating for 500 properties in Tonbridge, ahead of an extension to all blocks planned for this year.
Cllr Piers Montague, the council’s cabinet lead on waste and recycling, said: ‘I would like to pay tribute to residents for helping us reduce the impact waste has on the environment. While this has been an especially difficult year operationally, these figures show the widespread commitment across our borough to recycling as much as we can.
‘As the pressures from the pandemic and national staff shortages start to ease, I’m confident we can get all our services back on track and continue to improve on these very strong figures with the roll out of recycling to flats. In the meantime, I’d like to thank residents for supporting our efforts in this area and leading the way in Kent.’
Kent’s top five areas for recycling (per cent of waste recycled) – April 2020 to March 2021
- Tonbridge and Malling - 51.6%
- Ashford - 50.5%
- Maidstone - 49.7%
- Folkestone and Hythe - 48.1%
- Dover - 47.8%
Data source: DEFRA, Local authority collected waste annual results tables