Cardboard Collection Service – why we introduced the orange bags

Why are we no longer collecting cardboard in the brown bin?

New legislation means that we are no longer allowed to collect cardboard in the brown bin together with organic waste. New composting standards require us to produce a higher quality of compost material and to reduce contaminants, such as inks used to print on card. The introduction of the orange bags is an interim measure to enable us to conform to new legislation about the recycling of cardboard.

Steve Harper Managing Director of Vital Earth said,

"Vital Earth has been forced to change the material it can accept from Derby City (and the seven other authorities we take material in from) due to a change in legislation. . This change has been completely forced by the new regulations and all of the councils we work with including Derby City have been working diligently in partnership with Vital Earth to remove the cardboard as soon as is practicable"

Why were orange bags chosen for cardboard recycling?

In order to comply with the new legislation we examined several options for collecting cardboard:

• Advise residents to place cardboard in their black bin
  Derby has an excellent recycling rate of 48%. This option could jeopardise residents' commitment to recycling and would dramatically increase the amount that is send to landfill
• Provide every household with 140 litre bin for collection of cardboard
  This was rejected as this would have cost in the region of £2 million; this is calculated at a cost of £20 per bin for 100,000 households
• Provide every household with a hessian bag
  This was rejected as it would have cost in the region of £220,000 plus delivery
• Advise residents to place cardboard in their blue bin
  Our waste contractor, Green Star is not able to process mixed materials at their Derby site. All materials collected would need to be shipped to another site outside the city incurring extra transport and processing costs. The blue bins are not big enough to take cardboard as well as bottles, cans and so on for recycling.
• Provide an orange plastic bag
  The option was chosen as it allowed us to remain committed to recycling and was a low cost option for the council tax payer at 17p per bag

How do I secure my recycling bags so they don't blow away?

• Please wait until there is some weight of cardboard in your orange bag for us to collect, but do not overfill it. Then present the orange bag at the next collection cycle convenient to you
• Please fold the top of the orange bag over and wedge it between your blue bag and the blue or brown bin (if you have them)
• If you have a larger cardboard box, you can weigh it down by putting other scrap cardboard that you have in it, and we will collect it. You don't need to dismantle larger cardboard boxes to put in the orange bag
• If you have a lot of cardboard, we will provide you with extra orange bags
• You can still recycle cardboard by taking it to the Raynesway Household Waste and Recycling Centre
• Some of the larger supermarkets in the city have cardboard recycling banks. Please check it out the next time you go shopping.

Can I have more than one orange bag?

If you require an additional orange bag or if you need a replacement:

• Pick up a sack at any library or at a Neighbourhood Forum meeting
• Collect one at our customer services centre at 1 Albion Street
• Contact Streetpride on 0333 2006981 or email streetpride@derby.gov.uk

How are the orange bags collected?

There are six crews collecting cardboard throughout the city from over 12,000 households each day. Each crew has a driver and two collectors who empty the orange bags into the collection vehicle. After collecting the cardboard, the crews tie empty bags to brown/blue bin handles wherever possible to stop them blowing away.

Each vehicle collecting cardboard carries a supply of spare orange bags, so if you require additional or replacement bags please speak to the crews.

High winds have caused some cardboard to blow away. What is the Council doing to reduce litter?

Our Streetpride Street Cleansing team are now coordinating their rounds so that they visit an area the day after the cardboard collection has taken place. Please help us to minimise litter by securing your orange bags as set out above.

How have the collections been going since they started?

Streetpride would like to thank the residents of Derby for successfully changing to the use of new orange bags to recycle their cardboard. One of the signs of success of the introduction of the orange bags has been the number of requests that we have had from local residents for additional bags so that residents can recycle more cardboard.

Since the introduction of the scheme on 6th December 2011, we have had:

• 50 requests per day, on average for additional orange bags
• only 14 missed cardboard collections a day on average against approximately 12,000 household visited each day
• three complaints lodged a day on average to express resident dissatisfaction with the decision to implement orange sacks (out of approximate 100,000 households who are eligible for the new orange sack scheme)

Some facts and figures

The overall cost of collecting, recycling, and composting of all waste for 2010/11 was £2.44 per household per week, that's everything in your black, blue and brown bins, textiles, newspapers and cardboard and bulky and other waste for the cost of a couple of loaves of bread.

For every 1,000 tonnes of cardboard kept out of the black bin saves £64,000 in landfill tax during 2012/13, reducing the cost of refuse collection to you the Council Tax payer – thank you.

Downloads

• Cardboard recycling leaflet (pdf, 1,003kb)

Useful links

• Household waste - what to put in which bin