100 signatures reached
To: Winchester City Council & Hampshire County Council
Transform Recycling in Winchester & Hampshire
Winchester City Council and Hampshire County Council urgently need to work together to bring about a revolution in recycling. This can achieved by increasing the types of waste recycled and investing in campaigns & enforcement that will promote behavioural change. Although budgets are already stretched it has been proven that such improvements can often be profitable by re-arranging existing services.
Why is this important?
In 2015 we managed to recycle a meagre 35%, while the best performer, South Oxfordshire, achieved 65%. We’re in the bottom 20% of councils in England.
You may be wondering if it really matters that much. The truth is that it matters a great deal. Waste is one of the most significant contributors to climate change, contributing a similar amount of carbon as aviation.
Many councils across the UK have been recycling more types of waste for years now. Hampshire never evolved, offering the same recycling service as it did 20 years ago. So, whilst many councils have been able to double or even triple recycling we have achieved minimal gains.
Hampshire needs to shift emphasis from incineration and collect more types of waste for recycling. Research suggests that in Winchester if all plastics were collected it could increase our recycling rate to 40%, glass 45%, food waste a staggering 63%. Also, if the council did more to encourage residents to recycle correctly we could increase our rate to 66%, placing us in the top five performing authorities.
Let’s play our part in reducing greenhouse gases from waste and at the same time give our city something else to be proud of.
