Waste or Misplaced Resources

• Waste or ‘The Misplaced Resources Team’:
• Make Hungerford a plastic bag free town and enjoy the publicity along with the potential for greater footfall. Existing plastic bag free towns are: Modbury in Devon (43 traders), with Glastonbury and Hebden Bridge (109 traders) both working towards plastic bag free status;
• Mitigate the impact of waste and
• Initially measure sources and quantities of misplaced resources locally.

“If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it”

In 2000/01 West Berkshire households produced 79,000 tonnes of waste, this equates to 1.35 tonnes per household p.a. Of this around 9,000 tonnes was recycled (11.5%). The recycling rate in 1993 was only 3.4%. The amount of waste produced is increasing at 2% p.a. (the national average being 3%). This increase can generally be attributed to a growing population and shrinking size of households (2.45 in 2006 from 2.66 per household in 1991). See figures 2.2 and 2.3 1

Reproduced from Waste Management Strategy 2000/01- WBDC

David Holtby (West Berkshire District Council) has informed us of the council’s future waste collection plans. These will include kerb-side collection of plastics, cardboard and green waste. New waste collection contract with Veola to replace Biffa. New recycling civic amenity at Padworth Sidings negotiated.

Our aims - “in nature there is no such thing as waste”

The issues around misplaced resources and how to mitigate the impact of waste are multifarious, even at a local scale. Our group have therefore decided to concentrate on a small number of initiatives that we hope will, in the short term, be manageable. The group has also decided to follow a clear policy based on the Waste Stream Hierarchy, see below

The figure above represents a ‘Cradle-to-Grave’ approach to waste management. However this still involves finding somewhere ‘away’ to which we can dispose of those resources that have not been reused and ultimately recycled. As there is no ‘away’ the aim is to approach the subject from a ‘Cradle-to-Cradle’ 2 perspective: either eliminating use of resources that are not going to degrade safely within the natural environment, or reusing and recycling those that cannot, and eliminating the need for disposal.

Short-term aims:

• Auditing: measuring the sources and quantities of misplaced resources locally, with regard to our stated initiatives below.
• Approaching the Chamber of Commerce about: local retailers policies for reducing packaging and introducing biodegradable bags; stocking of rechargeable batteries; LowE light bulbs and so on.
• Introduction of the reusable Hungerford Grocery Bag “Hungry for Less in Hungerford”
• Supporting existing litter picking initiatives (Rod Desmeules of Town Council annual, British Waterways 12 th March in Newbury 3).

Medium-term aims:

• Group field trip to West Den Community Recycling scheme in Chagford, Devon 4. They set up a green waste into compost operation, which now includes on site; furniture recycling, bicycle reclamation, clothing sales, second hand books, paints, timber as well as a seedling polytunnel warmed by heat exchange from composting and office operations.
• Hungerford and District Swap Shops: leftovers can be taken to council Civic Amenity (CA) sites. Existing example is the Sustainable Wallingford group 5.

Long-term aims:

To set up community schemes: initially one of the options below:

• Taking in waste timber from tree surgeons, builders, etc for the production of wood chips for wood burning stoves and CHP (?).
• Providing a collection site for used vegetable oils for the production of bio-diesel.
• Setting up a green waste collection amenity for sale-back of garden compost.

Ongoing aims:

• Research into solutions such as reduction, recycling and elimination of plastics in our environment.
• Research into the experience of other community waste initiatives.
• Research into funding opportunities for community based schemes; Community Recycling Network (CRN), National Council for Voluntary Organisations NCVO), Waste and Resources Action Plan (WRAP), Community Recycling and Economic Development (CRED) and so on.
• Co-ordinating efforts with other concerned groups such as; other HEAT groups, local councils, Transition West Berkshire 6, LA21 and so on.

References:

• Waste Management Strategy 2000/01 at www.westberks.gov.uk
• McDonough, W., Braungart, M (2002) Cradle to Cradle; Remaking The Way We Make Things. New York : North Point Press, 0-86547-587-3
• Smith, A ( alison.smith@britishwaterways.co.uk ) e-mail to Chris Wilson 03/03/08
• Chagford Community Recycling Site at www.dcm.org.uk
• Swap Shops at www.sustainablewallingford.org
• Transition West Berkshire at www.transitionwestberks.org

Transition Towns Network at www.transitiontowns.org/TransitionNetwork 

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