On-the-go recycling zones start to take off

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Anyone who has travelled on the London Underground during the morning or evening rush hour will not have failed to notice the free newspapers that now litter the Tube. Many commuters simply cannot be bothered to keep hold of their copy until they find a bin. The newspapers are perhaps symptomatic of London having the lowest recycling rates in the country, at around 20%, a figure that the London Assembly's environment committee is determined to improve.

One of the areas the committee is looking at is on-the-go recycling. Indeed it has published a report calling on Mayor Boris Johnson to install bins in public places to encourage those who live and work in the capital to recycle their drinks cans and bottles when they are outside the home or office. "The majority of waste disposed of when people are out and about is recyclable. It is essential that this does not end up in landfill," says Committee deputy chair Darren Johnson.

London would not, however, be the first city to start up such as scheme. In March, Glasgow completed a year-long trial of recycling bins in the city centre. Valpak Consulting ran the Danone Waters-sponsored scheme that involved 15 recycling banks being placed at different locations across the city centre and collected 32.85 tonnes in the first nine months.

The bulk of the waste collected, 79%, was newspapers and magazines. Plastic and metal packaging represented 8% of the material.



Economically viable
Valpak consultant Alison Quinn says the success of the scheme was down to the partnership between the different stakeholders to raise awareness and talk to local businesses and community groups. "The scheme was well received and we've proven it's an economically sustainable model for on-the-go recycling," she says. Valpak is currently in talks with Danone and the Scottish government to see how the project could now be extended.

But it is not only city centres that stand to benefit from on-the-go recycling facilities. In fact, they are appearing in a wide range of locations with large numbers of visitors. Tesco, for example, is introducing recycling facilities, previously found at its larger out-of-town shops, at its Metro stores. Leading the way in this field is Coca-Cola. In the past year, it has rolled out 12 Recycling Zones at locations including theme parks, hospitals and universities. Last month, the drinks giant unveiled its most recent zone in the departure lounges at Manchester Airport that puts it on track to meet its 80-zone target by 2011.

Coca-Cola Enterprises vice-president Erika Coghlin is pleased with the scheme's success so far. "The bins are really delivering in terms of educating consumers, reducing waste and commercial impact." She admits that there is not a one-size-fits-all model for the bins but says that part of the plan for the first year was to try to establish what systems work best in different locations. "It's important to have a good geographic spread but common to all is high footfall and a fast-moving environment."

One of the most positive outcomes of the scheme is the lack of contamination in the collected waste, a fact that could prove useful to convince London councils to adopt on-the-go facilities.

Low contamination
A survey January showed contaminated waste was seen as the biggest barrier to on-the-go recycling in the capital's 33 boroughs. "We're really pleased with the small amount of contamination we're getting in all sites. It shows consumers are treating the bins differently, which is good," says Coghlin.

Consistent and recognisable branding is another important factor in making it easy for consumers. On-the-go recycling, though, would be a futile exercise if the collected material was not reused. Coca-Cola would like to see the loop closing back into its packaging and the focus on recycling, including on-the-go facilities, in the new government packaging strategy perhaps points to this becoming increasingly possible. "It's really important to connect the back end of the recycling zone [to reprocessing], to get more cullet of sufficient grade to use in our packaging," says Coghlin.

Brands, waste management companies and the authorities working together is clearly the key to getting consumers on board and ensuring the right reprocessing facilities are in place to make on-the-go recycling a success across the country. And that can only be a good thing, as it will surely help keep "excessive packaging" off the front pages.