Bolton has been found to be “a mile ahead” of other nearby areas where recycling is concerned by keeping “contaminated” rubbish levels down.
Government figures show that just under half of household waste collected across the borough goes to recycling,
A council meeting heard how the Bolton had also managed to keep the amount of would-be recycling waste rejected because of “contaminations” the lowest in Greater Manchester
Cabinet member for the environment Cllr Richard Silvester said: “Bolton is by far a mile ahead of the other eight Council’s in the Greater Manchester Waste and Recycling Authority by keeping contamination of recycling down.
“This saves Bolton Council a lot of money with less recycling rejected.
“It shows that Bolton borough residents are getting it right by recycling the right things and also that our waste and recycling officers are checking that bins are not contaminated when bins are emptied, so I would like to thank both residents and staff for being the best in the Greater Manchester Waste Authority area for their efforts.”
The figures released by the Department for Environment, Rural Affairs and Food and presented to the council showed that Bolton’s total recycling rate stood at 49.5 per cent.
This puts the borough far ahead of Manchester where only around 39 per cent of household waste is recycled.
The meeting of Bolton Council’s Place Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday March 19 heard how the borough had also managed to keep contamination rates much lower than other areas.
“Contamination” happens when waste that can’t be recycled is put into recycling bins and so has to be rejected from processing plants.
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This can happen when food or drink leaks onto paper or cardboard or when people try to recycle greasy materials like takeaway wrappers.
People have been warned to check and make sure that their recycling bins are not contaminated to stop them from being rejected.
Bolton's recycling rate put the borough ahead of the average rate for council across England.
On average less than 42 percent of household waste was taken for reuse, recycling or composting in 2022/23, according to the figures from DEFRA.
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