Recycling Ahead of Target - but MK Aims to Do Even Better

11.47.52pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 25th Jul 2007

Recycling and waste experts at Milton Keynes Council are being asked to 'grasp the nettle' over the twin challenges of reducing waste and increasing recycling.

The Council's Liberal Democrat cabinet has asked senior council staff to come up with the best future options for waste collection and disposal as well as increasing recycling levels.

Current recycling levels are at well over 36% - way ahead of target - but pressures such the government's Landfill Allowances Trading Scheme, where councils can be fined for burying too much rubbish, mean that Milton Keynes Council needs to do even more.

Liberal Democrat councillor Douglas McCall, cabinet member responsible for the environment, said: "We are doing very well on the recycling front but we can't sit on our laurels. We'd like to see recycling hitting the 40% level this year to mark the new city's 40th birthday."

The cabinet ruled out any possibility of moving to alternative weekly collections, reaffirming its previous stance of retaining weekly collections of both refuse and recycling.

This view was supported earlier this week by the House of Commons local government committee, which concluded that there is no direct evidence that collection in alternate weeks increases recycling or is suitable in every area, and that it can lead to increased fly-tipping.