Waste

Introduction

Objectives

Activities

Swap Shop

How can you help?

What do I do with...?

Links

Introduction

The Waste Group was set up to tackle the ever increasing problem of rubbish we’re facing and to see how Wallingford could help reduce its contribution.

435m tonnes of rubbish are disposed of every year - over 100m tonnes of it is domestic waste. To put that into an understandable format this is the same weight as 3.5 million double decker buses. A queue of that many buses would go around the world one and a half times. Can you imagine Britain finding room to bury that many double decker buses each year?

Britain is one of the most wasteful societies in Europe, and its rubbish output is rising by roughly 4% each year. Well-off households produce an average of 5kg more waste per week than poorer ones; people in cities throw more away than those in the country, people who live alone waste more than those who co-habit. Since single, middle-class city-dwellers feeding off meals for one is a rapidly growing demographic in Britain, the waste mountain looks likely to keep increasing.

The Waste Group is supported by the Community Action Group (CAG) initiative from which we receive practical advice and financial support. Through CAGs, the County Council and District Councils are working with Resource Futures to improve public awareness of waste issues by promoting new ways to reduce, reuse and recycle waste. Community groups actively look for ways to tackle the issues of waste locally. Projects include swap shops, community art, community composting, community green waste shredding and local publicity campaigns.

For the latest on kerbside recycling, click here.