A plan for waste management

The Surrey Waste Partnership is made up of the county's eleven borough and district councils and Surrey County Council.  We aim to manage Surrey's waste in the most efficient, economic and sustainable way possible.

In 2006 the Surrey Waste Partnership endorsed a strategic plan for waste management in Surrey.  It set out a vision for managing Surrey's waste through to 2025 and incorporated significant targets for reducing and recycling waste.

The strategy was recently updated.  It incorporated higher recycling targets, to reflect the excellent progress being made in Surrey, and noted recent developments in waste treatment technologies.  Residents were invited to comment on the strategy in a public consultation held between May and August 2010.  As part of that consultation, the Council's Environment Committee reviewed and commented on the strategy at its meeting on 30 June 2010.

The strategy was amended to reflect the responses received in the public consultation.  The Council's Environment Committee then reviewed and endorsed the revised, post-consultation strategy at its meeting on 27 October 2010.

Thank you to everyone who responded to the public consultation.  Epsom & Ewell residents continue to demonstrate their commitment to cost effective recycling.

Love food.  Hate waste.

Do you love food but hate waste?  8.3 million tonnes of food and drink, worth £12 billion, goes to waste in the UK every year.

Love Food Hate Waste aims to show families how they could save on their food shopping bill, simply by throwing away less food.  Find out about meal making and food facts that really pay.

For tips on smart shopping, cooking less and clever food storage visit www.lovefoodsurrey.com.

Why worry about waste?

Epsom & Ewell alone produces around 27,000 tonnes of household waste each year.  The good news is that this is gradually reducing.

However, rubbish that we do not recycle must typically be disposed of in landfill sites.  Rotting waste in landfill sites generate powerful greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change.  If we do not continue to recycle more the environment will suffer.

The government charges councils for each tonne of rubbish which is sent to landfill.  This Landfill Tax has doubled in three years and continues to rise steeply.  Government can also fine councils for exceeding allowances of waste sent to landfill.

Surrey's Plan for Waste Management will reduce our reliance on landfill for non-recycled waste but at present landfill remains significant.  If we do not continue to recycle more our residents will pay heavily through increased Council Tax.

How well are we doing with recycling?

Thanks to your efforts, recycling has risen significantly in Epsom & Ewell.  Before we launched kerbside recycling in 2003 almost 95% of your waste went to landfill.  Now you recycle almost 50% of your household waste.

Last year your recycling included:

3,000 tonnes of garden waste 2,750 tonnes of paper 2,100 tonnes of food waste 2,000 tonnes of glass 1,600 tonnes of plastic bottles and cardboard.

In total you recycled over 12,200 tonnes through the Council's services, and more went to the Community Recycling Centre in Blenheim Road.  This year you look set to beat that record figure.

Can I do more to help?

It is easy to help the environment and save energy.

Reduce:  We only throw away what we buy in the first place.  Often it is just packaging we neither want nor need.  Carefully considering what we buy can help reduce waste. Re-use:  Energy is used to make things, even if they is recycled.  By re-using we can postpone replacement - perhaps indefinitely.  Sites such as Freecycle could make it easy for you to find another home for your unwanted items. Recycle:  If you cannot reduce or re-use, recycling is easy to do and much better than simply throwing something away.

Is it worth recycling?

The benefits of reducing landfill and methane emissions are clear.

Recycling also reduces carbon emissions, even allowing for the fact that we must employ vehicles to collect the materials in the first place.  For example, it has been calculated that the energy saved by recycling cans, compared to manufacturing from raw materials, reduces their carbon footprint by nearly three quarters. 

Recycling also reduces our reliance on natural resources.

What about carrier bags and packaging?

Carrier bag use across the UK has halved.  A re-usable shopping bag is by far the best option for the environment.

The amount of packaging that councils have to collect is gradually reducing.  Manufacturers are working on new ways to reduce packaging, or make it recyclable or compostable. 

In 2005 over 40 major retailers, brand owners, manufacturers and suppliers signed up to a voluntary agreement called the Courtauld Commitment.  This aimed to reduce both household packaging and food waste. Their work included such things as innovative packaging formats, reducing packaging weight, increasing recycled content, designing for recyclability, increasing the use of concentrates, refill and self-dispensing systems and collaborating on packaging design guidance.

In 2010 29 major retailers and brand owners signed up to the Courtauld Commitment 2.  This aims to reduce the carbon impact of grocery packaging by 10%, reduce household food and drink waste by 4% and reduce waste in the grocery supply chain by 5%.

The success of these strategies relies on consumer choices.  The key is to buy products with less or recyclable packaging whenever possible.