Ian McGeough, Veolia
Update on the opening of the new recycling facility off the Old Kent Road.
Minutes:
Ian McGeough from Veolia spoke about the new waste management facility off the Old Kent Road which was replacing Manor Place. The facility was now operational and people could use the facility to recycle the same materials as Manor Place and pick up compost bins and wormeries. The facility also sorts recycling materials for the borough.
Councillor Rowenna Davis asked Ian what was the most irritating item that ends up in recycle bins. Ian responded that it was nappies. Councillor Rowenna asked what time the facility would be open to purchase compost bins and drop off bulky waste. Ian stated that the facility was open from 8am to 6pm 7 days a week.
Ian took questions from the floor. A resident asked if there were any plans to recycle polystyrene in Southwark as he had heard that it could be used as a building material. Ian stated there were currently no plans as there was little value in this but as things developed that may change in the future. Another resident asked if the plant was functioning to capacity and if there were plans to extend to other boroughs. Ian stated at the moment it wasn’t at capacity as the facility had only recently opened. Further questions were asked on whether small things such as mobile phone chargers could be recycled and whether there were plans to extend food waste recycle to residents who used the clear bags. Ian responded that small electrical goods could be recycled but were collected as part of the bulky waste collection. There was a plan to trial food waste recycling services in some housing estates and Ian asked for people to get in touch if they were interested in taking part in a pilot scheme.
Councillor Althea Smith asked about how this would work on estates in terms of brown bin provisions when there were currently issues with waste collection on some housing estates. Ian agreed that they needed to make sure the services residents received were up to scratch and encouraged residents to get in touch if there were any issues on their estate.
Ian explained that wood could be recycled. Some materials would be resold to be reused if they were not recyclable. If they were not reusable then they would go to landfill as waste.