A new Waste and Resources Strategy for Nottingham has been approved at Executive Board this week.
The strategy outlines how waste and recycling can be managed differently in the city with the aim of improving recycling rates, saving resources and reducing carbon emissions. Actions in the strategy include:
- Introducing food waste collections following a trial period
- Making changes to recycling collection containers for households and businesses
- Promoting good behaviours to improve recycling rates and reduce environmental impact
- Encouraging waste prevention through repair and reuse
- Working towards carbon neutrality in Nottingham.
These changes come as the UK Government sets out new targets to increase recycling rates to 65% by 2035, while keeping landfill rates below 10%. Food waste collections will also become obligatory across the country from 2025.
The approval of the strategy follows an eight-week consultation period where local stakeholders were asked to share their opinions and preferences. 76% said they were supportive of the proposals in the strategy.
The consultation responses identified 14 key themes for improvement, covering three topics: public health and amenity, service provision, and understanding and compliance. As a result, three additional ambitions have been added to the strategy:
- The need to improve public health for residents
- Access to and facilities at Household Waste and Recycling Centres with the aim of producing less waste and more recycling
- Decreasing fly-tipping and litter across the city to improve public health for residents.
Cllr Sally Longford, Portfolio Holder for Energy, Environment and Waste Services, said: “We published our draft strategy last October and asked for local people’s opinions, which have helped shape the vision, objectives and ambitions set out in the final strategy. We recognise that improvement must be delivered in the waste collection services provided, that the range of items collected to be recycled must be broader, and that better information has to be available to encourage everyone to do the right thing. We must also maintain a waste management service that protects public health and delivers clean and tidy neighbourhoods for people to live in.
“Our ambition is to deliver a significantly better solution to managing our resources and waste. This strategy sets out what the City Council can achieve with the support of residents. By working together, the small improvements in the decisions we take can all make a significant contribution to reducing our environmental impact on our city and the world.”