Mixed collections 'are ruining our recycling effort'

COUNCILS and recycling firms are wasting thousand of tonnes of material that could be re-used, it emerged today.

Collectors are also creating huge amounts of carbon dioxide by failing to pick up rubbish separately, according to a study.

Researchers from recycling firm Paper Round looked at recycling waste from more than 40 businesses in London and found the majority was mixed in a single container, a practice known as "co-mingling".

Doing this often makes it impossible to recycle items such as office paper, as they can get covered in food or broken glass. it means more waste is sent to landfill because it cannot be separated. The experts behind the study blamed councils and recycling firms, accusing them of being unwilling to collect the material separately.

Bill Swan, of Paper Round, said: "By co-mingling all our recycling we're wasting much of its potential to be reformed into usable products.

"Throwing everything into one bin takes up to 77 per cent more energy to process than if it was separated at source. Doing this helps councils hit their recycling targets, but actually makes real recycling harder."

The team collected a tonne of rubbish and found that firms could have saved the equivalent of 1,012kg of CO2 - equivalent to 14 return flights from London to Paris - if councils had collected rubbish separately.

"Paper is a key product, and easy to reuse. But once it is contaminated with other waste it's very hard to reuse as high-grade office paper. Food is probably the biggest evil when it comes to contamination." A spokesman for London Councils said: "In high-density areas such as London it would not be feasible to offer kerbside source-separated collections, so co-mingled collections are often the most practical and easy way to increase recycling."

It comes as ministers unveil plans for a website that tells consumers what to recycle.

The Cabinet Office-funded project asks consumers to enter their postcode and then produces a guide to what people should recycle and where they can take it. The website idea won a Government contest and is now being built.

It was revealed last week that London has the lowest rate of recyling in the country.

Government figures showed household recycling rates in the capital rose from 22.9 per cent last year to 25.5 per cent this year. But London lags behind the England average of 34.5 per cent.