Success of council recycling initiatives frees up funding

Money that has been saved from a budget for dealing with waste for landfill will be used for a £2.1m road repair scheme in Cheshire, the BBC has reported.

Cheshire council's initiatives to cut waste in the county has resulted in a reduction of 20% in total waste this year. This represents a cut in the amount of refuse sent to landfill of 50,000 tonnes. The council's successful schemes included household waste recycling centres and kerbside recycling.

Council environment executive spokesperson Andrew Needham said: “There has been a significant fall in the amount of rubbish we are having to landfill. Recycling at our household waste recycling centres has more than doubled to 65% under our new contractor H W Martin, and this new contract has seen a 50% reduction in landfill from the centres.”

The money saved will be spent on road and pavement repair throughout the county.