Recycling :O)

When I ordered the compost bin a few weeks, I sent an e-mail to the Isle of Wight Council asking what else we can do and today I have received a reply :O)
Good afternoon,
Thank you for your email of 30th April and I apologise for the delay in replying. I have provided you with lots of information below all about recycling initiatives. In essence the large black box is for the kerbside collection and the small green caddy is for the food waste. If you find that you need more than 1 caddy then please do order another or if you are passing you may collect one from Island Waste Service at Forest Road, Newport. The green food waste caddy is placed next to normal collection place for refuse and the black box is place on the boundary of your property in full view of the highway. As you are probably aware, The Isle of Wight Council work in partnership with Island Waste Services to deliver a number of initiatives to recycle, compost, recover and minimise domestic waste. Together with the household refuse collection, we are responsible for several recycling schemes; 'Bring' recycling sites, Kitchen Food Waste Collection, Garden Waste Collection and Black Box Kerbside Collection.Through the various opt-in schemes householders can play an active part and recycle the following materials;
1) Bring Bank Sites - Colour separated glass, textiles and aluminium cans. Aluminium cans deposited here are collected by Haylands Farm, a MENCAP facility that provides education, training and work experience for people with a learning disability. The funds gained from the can collections go to support their good work.
2) Kitchen Food Waste - Uncooked & cooked food, teabags & coffee grinds, fruit, vegetables, peelings & eggshells. We provide a green, collection caddy for food waste. This is collected upon a weekly basis at the same time as normal refuse.
3) Green Garden Waste - Grass cuttings, hedge trimmings, leaves, cut flowers but no soil or rubble. Garden waste is not collected as part of the normal collection service. Green sacks have to be bought separately, costing £1.20 each and are collected upon a weekly basis at the same time as normal refuse. Green sacks bought from Supermarkets and other shops are not the correct sacks and garden waste placed out for collection in such sacks will not be collected.
4) Black Box Kerbside Collection - Newspapers & stapled magazines, textiles (bagged), paired shoes and glass bottles & jars. Collected fortnightly from the curtilege of the property, on the same day as the normal refuse collection. You are a Friday, Week A. Your next collection is Friday 16 March.
5) Household Waste Recycling Centres (Civic Amenity Sites) - There are 3 sites on the island where householders can take and recycle items that are not collected with their normal weekly refuse collection. Other materials such as cardboard, plastics, other packaging, steel and aluminium cans, aerosols and other paper items such as envelopes, junk mail, telephone directories, leaflets & pamphlets may all put in the bin, which may seem wrong, however these items are not land-filled. When the refuse is collected it is taken to a Resource Recovery Facility, which is sited on Forest Road, Newport. Here the waste from all over the island is mechanically processed to create fuel. All the items that can be recycled are. Tetrapaks, paper, cardboard, plastic, and textile fragments are converted into fuel, aluminium and steel is extracted to be recycled and the organic component of the waste is composted. Only a small proportion of the refuse that enters the RRF is actually sent to landfill and amazingly enough this consist mostly of disposable nappies!! If glass is not put out for collection using the black box kerbside scheme then unfortunately it is land-filled too, as there are no mechanisms that exist to extract the glass fragments - so it is important to separate bottles and jars from the waste.
Thank you for your interest.
Regards,Sarah Buttress
Waste Minimisation & Recycling Officer

How cool is that!! We don't use disposable nappies (although {cringe} we have in the past) and we always recycle our glass!! But, HOW COOL IS THE ISLE OF WIGHT!!!! It was killing me to but plastic milk bottles etc in the bin and now I feel so much happier to know what happens to it. I feel I'm doing my bit to save this precious planet we live on and three cheers for the IOW Council :O)