South Oxon is tops for recycling!

IT”S official – South Oxfordshire’s residents are the best recyclers in the country.

The district has topped the latest official league table of England’s local authorities by recycling nearly two thirds of its household waste (65.71 per cent).

Their neighbours in the Vale of White Horse are also sitting proudly in third place with a recycling rate of 65.27 per cent. Both councils have been in the top three for the past three years.

Cllr David Dodds, Cabinet Member for Waste at South Oxfordshire District Council, and a Thame Town Cllr, said: “We are very proud that South Oxfordshire is the number one area in the country for recycling. The service we provide is designed to make recycling easy and our residents have responded to that by ensuring they recycle as much rubbish as possible, and by limiting the amount of other waste that is produced. They are the ones who are setting the standard for others to follow and deserve our congratulations.”

South and Vale councils have had a shared waste collection service with Biffa since 2010, saving an estimated £1.2 million. The councils recently extended the Biffa contract until 2024.

The council is currently looking at the possibility of bringing in a kerbside collection of small electrical goods and textiles to help increase recycling rates even further and will shortly be launching a new service, Recycleopedia, which is like a search engine for your bin – users simply type in the item they want to throw away, enter their postcode, and the results page explains which bin to put it in.

Also on the way are free iCal waste calendars, which means that residents can download a copy of their waste calendar straight onto their smartphone. Their chosen calendar app will display a reminder on the day before they put their bins out, and then on the collection day itself, telling them whether it’s a grey or a green bin week.

Keep an eye on the councils’ websites at www.southoxon.gov.uk and www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk for more information.