Making cash from trash

As the old saying goes, where there's muck there's brass.

And one council is hoping to generate �285,000 a year from rubbish after building its own recycling centre.

Oadby and Wigston Borough Council can now recycle and sell rubbish collected from householders, rather than continue to pay County Hall to take waste away.

The new site is in Wigston Road, Oadby, behind the existing county council tip.

It includes equipment to sort recycled household rubbish such as plastics, cans, bottles, paper and textiles, so it no longer has to be sent to a larger site in Whetstone.

Jez Crooks, acting head of client services, said: "By employing a bit of creative thinking we have managed to build our very own sorting facility which normally costs around a million pounds.

"We have investigated the matter and by shopping around and buying second-hand equipment, we have created our facility for just �150,000."

Mr Crooks said that selling the waste to a recycling company would generate �200,000 a year.

The centre will also save the authority the �85,000 a year it used to pay to the county council to take the waste away, and �100,00 in transport costs.

Mr Crooks said: "Once we have paid off the �150,000 set-up costs it will cost us �100,00 a year to run, so we will be a net �285,00 a year better off.

"The public are doing their bit by sorting the waste into the plastic bags we give them and we are doing our bit by processing that waste. We are saving money, generating income and saving the environment by making fewer lorry trips."

Mr Crooks said the extra cash would allow the authority to maintain weekly collections.

Oadby and Wigston council is one of two boroughs in the county which still provides a weekly collection service. Around 70 per cent of residents in the borough recycle.

"At a time when everyone is feeling the pinch we are going to be able to ensure we maintain our collection service, not cut it back in any way," he added.

Council chief executive Mark Hall said: "Thanks to the income this generates and the residents' enthusiasm to recycle, it is helping to keep refuse and recycling collections weekly and will help us improve the services we provide."

Source: http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/32715/f/503348/s/144a0d08/l/0L0Sthisisleicestershire0O0Cnews0CMaking0Ecash0Etrash0Carticle0E3460A5730Edetail0Carticle0Bhtml/story01.htm

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