Compositional Waste Analysis and Future Potential for the Recycling System (Part 3)

Albion Environmental Ltd. can help you to estimate the future potential for your recycling system, carrying out Compositional Waste Analysis of Residual Waste. The main purposes of the analysis are:

• Provide details of the quantity of each material type going to the residual bin collection system operated by the Council.
• Try and identify the quantity of waste which could be recycled from the residual collection.

METHODOLOGY

The analysis would be conducted in accordance with the Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) Guidance (Version 1.3 July 17th 2013):

• Sample sizes were reduced to 20.
• In order to further improve the statistical accuracy of the analysis, socio-economic profiling can be used and the 100 bin sample can be weighted to represent differing ACORN classifications for the Council area. A sample of 20 households can be selected from each ACORN group.

ANALYSIS OF RESIDUAL WASTE BINS

In this third instalment, it will be revised the analysis of residual waste bins.

An analysis of residual waste can be carried out to try and identify the participation in the multi bin collection system.

This analysis can also be used to provide valuable information for future development of the system.

Taking into account the collection system that the Council currently has developed and rolled out and analysing the data gained from the compositional waste analysis, the average weight and volume of the Green Bin can be estimated.

For instance, this Scottish Council has currently developed the following multi bin collection system:

• Food Waste Caddies – cooked and uncooked meat, fish and vegetables, dairy, bread, etc. – collected weekly.
• Textile Bag – clothing, shoes, bags, belts, sheets, etc. – collected fortnightly.
• Blue Bin – Mixed dry recyclables including paper, cans, cardboard and plastics – collected fortnightly.
• Brown Bin – compostable garden waste – collected fortnightly.
• Black Box – glass, WEEE & batteries – collected fortnightly.
• Green Bin – residual waste – collected fortnightly.

Based upon the data gained in the Compositional Waste Analysis, it is possible to get the following charts that show the average weight and volume of residual waste per Green Bin for each ACORN Category and as an overall average.

POTENTIAL RECYCILNG INCREASES

Assuming that all of the potentially recyclable materials placed in the Green Bin were instead placed into one of the recyclable collection containers, or, taken to a Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) or a suitable charity, we can calculate how much of the waste collected in the residual Green Bin could potentially be diverted to other recycling collections within the Council area.

The following table Potential Recycling Increases shows the weights and volumes of each of the waste categories and sub-categories collected in the Green Bin which could be diverted to another Recycling scheme, and what materials would be left in the Green Bin.

The following charts summarise how the contents of the Green Bin could be redistributed as a percentage.

The following tables show how this potential recycling increase would affect the other collections over a four week period.

The following chart shows the additional percentages of materials from the Green Bin (by weight and volume) that could potentially be recycled by other means.

In conclusion, the Council can still potentially achieve an increased recycling rate of 66% by weight and 48.4% by volume.

ALBION ENVIRONMENTAL IS WILLING TO HELP YOU

Please feel free to contact us to resolve any queries in relation to Compositional Analysis of Residual Waste. Our experienced staff will be here to help and estimate the potentialities that your current recycling system has.