Good News from the Tip

11.26.08am UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 17th Oct 2007

Hereward Cooke

Cllr Hereward Cooke, leader of the Liberal Democrats at City Hall, praises the efficiency and rate of recycling at the Mile Cross tip.

In a letter to the Norwich Evening News he wrote:

The Civic Amenity at Swanton Road, aka the Mile Cross Tip, has improved greatly over the last few months. After all the criticism it has received over the years and which your correspondents continued to highlight, the situation is now much better.

On a recent trip there, I experienced the higher standards of customer care and cleanliness that are in place. This is due to the new contractor that manages the amenity on behalf of the County Council. That contractor, WRG, has until recently been running the Ketteringham site with credit, but has now transferred its expertise to Mile Cross.

The recycling rate of the material dumped there has risen from mid-50% to mid 70%. A clearer demarcation between types of rubbish, such as timber, has been made which allows the operation to sort the material at an early stage. And the green waste goes en masse to a centre from where it can be sold back to the public as compost.

I was also impressed by the fact that mobile phones and CDs (the bane of any zealous recycler`s life!) are now being received on behalf of the East Anglian Air Ambulance Trust, scoring a double victory for the effective use of resources and charity.

And last but not least, I understand that the County Council has plans to spend serious money on making it easier for members of the public to deliver materials there. An extension to the facility will allow more cars in at any one time and thus reduce the well-known queues along Swanton Road, which have tried people`s patience and deterred them from the vital act of recycling.

Good News from the Tip is a story that I did not expect to hear but I am glad to be the purveyor of it for the benefit of all ardent recyclers in Norwich.