Wokingham Borough Recycling

Over the past year, kerbside recycling rates in the Wokingham Borough have increased by 24 per cent, reports Wokingham Borough Council.

Every week, black recycling boxes are collected from properties across the Wokingham Borough and there is no limit to the amount of recyclable material residents can put out each week. Under the scheme plastic bottles (no lids), food tins and drink cans, aerosols and mixed paper and card are collected from black boxes and taken to Smallmead Recycling Centre in Reading where it’s sorted before being made into new products such as newspapers, milk bottles and fleeces.

However, according to last analysis, 12 per cent of what residents put in their black boxes is not recyclable. One of the biggest problems is plastic bags; latest figures suggest that 7.9 per cent of materials collected for recycling are contained within plastic bags. This causes a problem in sorting costs; everything that is placed inside a plastic bag will go straight to household waste rather than being recycled, even though over half the material found within plastic bags is recyclable material.

If residents find they are using plastic bags because there isn’t enough room in their black boxes, they can request an additional black box; which are available free of charge by contacting Wokingham Direct on (0118) 974 6000 or [email protected].