Disclosure Log

Question

Please provide data for the financial year 2024/25. If 2024/25 data is not yet available, please provide the most recent 12-month period for which data is held.

Question 1: Contamination rate

• The contamination rate for household kerbside recycling collections, expressed as a percentage

• The total tonnage of household kerbside recycling that was rejected, disposed of, or diverted from recycling due to contamination

• (If held) The contamination threshold at which a load is rejected (e.g. if contamination exceeds X%, the load is rejected)

• What happens to household kerbside recycling that is rejected due to contamination? E.g. Sent to landfill, incineration/energy from waste, or another disposal route (please state)

Question 2: Cost of contamination

• The total cost to the council of processing or disposing of contaminated household kerbside recycling for the same period

o (If an exact figure is not available, please provide an estimate and indicate how this was calculated)

Question 3: Main contaminants (if recorded)

• (If held) Please provide details of the main types of contamination found in household kerbside recycling collections (for example: food waste, nappies, non-recyclable plastics, textiles, garden waste, glass in incorrect streams, etc.)

Question 4: Processing cost differential

• The cost per tonne to the council for processing or disposing of household kerbside recycling

• The cost per tonne to the council for processing or disposing of general household waste

o (If exact figures e.g. gate fees are not available, please provide estimates or typical/average costs)

Clarifications:

• "Household kerbside recycling" refers to dry mixed recycling, paper/card, plastics, metals and glass collected from households at the kerbside – excluding food waste collections, garden waste collections, and materials deposited at household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) or bring banks

• If waste collection and disposal services are contracted out, please include data held by or on behalf of the council through these arrangements

• If the council is a waste collection authority only and does not hold disposal cost data, please confirm this in your response and provide any contamination or rejection data you do hold

Answer

Question 1: Contamination rate

a. the contamination rate for household kerbside recycling collections, expressed as a percentage

The Council does not hold a quantified contamination rate for household kerbside recycling collections expressed as a percentage. This is because the Council operates a kerbside sort collection system, whereby recyclable materials are separated at source by collection crews into individual material streams. As a result, mixed recycling loads are not presented for bulk processing in a format where a contamination percentage can be measured in the same way as commingled collection systems.

Following collection, materials are delivered to a waste transfer station prior to onward processing. Any contamination identified at collection stage is managed operationally (e.g. through non-collection or resident feedback), rather than recorded as a measured percentage of total tonnage.

b. The total tonnage of household kerbside recycling that was rejected, disposed of, or diverted from recycling due to contamination

The Council does not hold information on the total tonnage of household kerbside recycling that was rejected, disposed of, or diverted from recycling due to contamination.

c. (If held) The contamination threshold at which a load is rejected (e.g. if contamination exceeds X%, the load is rejected)

N/A

d. What happens to household kerbside recycling that is rejected due to contamination? E.g. Sent to landfill, incineration/energy from waste, or another disposal route (please state)

All residual waste is sent to Energy from Waste (EfW) facilities, with no material disposed of to landfill.

Question 2: Cost of contamination

a. The total cost to the council of processing or disposing of contaminated household kerbside recycling for the same period (If an exact figure is not available, please provide an estimate and indicate how this was calculated)

The Council does not hold data on the cost of processing or disposing of contaminated household kerbside recycling. As the Council operates a kerbside sort system and does not record contamination levels, any contamination arising is minimal and not recorded separately, and therefore no cost can be identified or reasonably estimated.

Question 3: Main contaminants (if recorded)

a. (If held) Please provide details of the main types of contamination found in household kerbside recycling collections (for example: food waste, nappies, non-recyclable plastics, textiles, garden waste, glass in incorrect streams, etc.)

N/A - the Council does not record contamination data for kerbside recycling due to the kerbside sort system and handling via a waste transfer station prior to processing.

Question 4: Processing cost differential

a. The cost per tonne to the council for processing or disposing of household kerbside recycling

Based on the Council’s internal cost data, the average cost per tonne for processing household kerbside recycling is approximately £88 per tonne (calculated from average material values for collected recyclate streams, excluding high value outliers such as metals).

b. The cost per tonne to the council for processing or disposing of general household waste

The cost per tonne for processing general household (residual) waste is approximately £136 per tonne.

The costs provided are based on average per tonne values from the Council’s internal financial data, which include gate fees within the overall tonnage cost for each waste stream.