Recycling & rubbish
- Does recycling make a difference?
- Kerbside collections
- Recycling banks
- Household Waste Recycling Centres
- How is my local authority area performing?
Did you know that in 2007/08, households in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough produced over 390,000 tonnes of rubbish and over 195,000 tonnes -, roughly 50% of this, was recycled and composted. Not bad, but we know that potentially 60% or more of our rubbish can be recycled and composted. Your local council provides three ways to recycle and compost rubbish. They are through:
- Kerbside collections
- Recycling sites
- Household Waste Recycling Centres
Does recycling make a difference?
The short answer is yes; even the smallest amount of recycling can make a difference:
- Recycling Aluminium requires only 5% of the energy it takes to make new aluminium and produces only 5% of the CO2 emissions. (Alupro)
- Just one recycled aluminium can saves enough energy to run a television set for three hours!
- Producing steel from recycled material saves 75% of the energy needed for steel made from virgin material (Scrib)
- The energy saving from recycling one glass bottle will:
- power a 100 watt bulb for an hour
- power a computer for 25 minutes
- Power a colour TV for 20 minutes
- Power a washing machine for 10 minutes (British glass) - Recycling just one plastic bottle saves enough energy to power a 60W light bulb for six hours (Recycle now)
Kerbside collections
Every partner council has now established a three-stream collection system for recycling, composting and rubbish that cannot be recycled or composted.
We need your help and participation for these recycling collections to be successful.
To request a recycling box or bin please contact your local recycling officer using the number on our Contacts page.
Recycling banks
There are over 300 recycling bank sites throughout Cambridgeshire and Peterborough where you can take paper, glass, cans, aerosols, textiles, books and plastic bottles.
Household Waste Recycling Centres
Most people refer to this as the Tip! Well, did you know that there are 11 Household Waste Recycling Centres in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough area where you can recycle glass, engine oil, organic green material, soil, cans, paper, cardboard, scrap metal, batteries, aerosols, textiles, fridges, freezers (and other white goods), timber, plate glass, books, mobile phones, cartridges and fluorescent tubes. Plastic bottles are collected at Grunty Fen, Milton, Bluntisham and Whittlesey Household Waste Recycling Centres.
Household Waste Recycling Centres in Cambridgeshire are now also collecting used cooking oil which will be used to generate green electricity.
How is my local authority area performing?
The table below shows you how much household waste each council managed in 2008/09, how much of it was recycled, composted and sent to landfill. Thanks to everybody's efforts, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough are performing really well with an average 50% of household waste being recycled and composted across the partnership.
However, far more can be done to raise recycling and composting rates in the area. Local studies on household waste have revealed that 28% of the waste that households in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough put out as residual waste (waste that cannot be recycled or composted), could actually be recycled or composted.
| Partner | Recycled | Composted | Recycled and composted | Land filled | Total amount of household waste |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cambridge City Council | 7,388 16.95% |
10,611 24.35% |
17,999 41.30% |
25,581 58.70% |
43,580 |
| Cambridgeshire County Council (Household Recycling Centres only) | 19,740 38.59% |
10,028 19.60% |
29,768 58.19% |
21,386 41.81% |
51,156 |
| East Cambridgeshire District Council | 4,952 17.09% |
5,680 19.60% |
10,632 36.69% |
18,346 63.31% |
28,978 |
| Fenland District Council | 8,672 21.60% |
11,826 29.45% |
20,498 51.05% |
19,182 47.78% |
39,680 |
| Huntingdonshire District Council | 18,668 26.30% |
21,903 30.86% |
40,571 57.17% |
29,385 41.41% |
69,956 |
| South Cambridgeshire District | 11,106 18.93% |
20,382 34.74% |
31,488 53.67% |
27,186 46.33% |
58,674 |
| Peterborough City Council | 20,598 22.67% |
23,056 25.37% |
43,655 48.04% |
47,211 51.96% |
90,865 |
| Total Partnership | 91,125 23.17% |
103,486 26.92% |
194,611 50.63% |
188,277 48.98% |
382,888 |




