Innovative product increases recycling by 30 per cent
The Wheelie Box – a local innovation – is improving Newtownabbey’s environmental performance and also attracting interest in Britain.
Newtownabbey Borough Council has increased its recycling levels by an impressive 30 per cent in a trial to 4,000 households thanks to a pioneering approach developed with Bryson Recycling.
Thanks to an innovative approach to kerbside recycling, local residents have increased recycling by 30 per cent and there has also been a 16 per cent increase in recycling participation. Bryson Recycling also predicts that Northern Ireland has the potential to exceed the EU recycling targets of 50 per cent by adopting the new Wheelie Box alongside reduced capacity wheeled bins for residual waste.
Environment Minister Mark H Durkan MLA welcomed the positive results from the survey following his visit to Bryson Recycling.
“It is encouraging to see a local social enterprise providing the next generation of recycling for homeowners through the innovative design of the Wheelie Box,” he remarked. “The results from the pilots of the new system are very positive and the wheelie boxes do seem to produce a high quality of materials that can be recycled locally. This is good for the environment, sustains local jobs and supports our local economy.”
The Wheelie Box, which is the brainchild of Bryson Recycling and manufactured by Straight PLC, is considered to be one of the most significant recycling innovations in recent years and it has set a benchmark for recycling targets across the UK.
Eric Randall, Director of Bryson Recycling, said: “We wanted to develop a new approach that improves our service further, making it easier for householders to use whilst improving recycling performance and our survey results support this.
“The introduction of a smaller black bin for residual waste alongside the new Wheelie Box has increased recycling levels directly from households to 55 per cent which is a breakthrough for us and the council. The wheelie box is more user-friendly and provides extra room for a range of high quality recyclable goods which can be recycled locally. During the trial, 98 per cent of householders indicated that they were satisfied with the new service.”
He added: “The success of the new design has led to the Bryson model being used as a reference point for councils in the rest of the UK with the Welsh Government adopting the approach in their recycling ‘blueprint’. We believe the Wheelie Box has enormous potential to be rolled out across Northern Ireland and the UK, and are delighted to be at the forefront of this exciting innovation.”
Mayor of Newtownabbey Alderman Thomas Hogg added: “The council is delighted that local residents have fully supported the new service in partnership with Bryson Recycling. The positive results speak for themselves and we are confident that the next stage of this service to another 4,000 householders will see recycling rates increase even further.”
Bryson Recycling, which is part of the Bryson Charitable Group, has over 20 years of experience in the recycling industry and operates a weekly kerbside collection to over 170,000 households across Northern Ireland.
For more information, please visit www.brysonrecycling.org
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