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.

List of Partner Councils and their household waste recycling performance figures for 2008/09, shown as approximate tonnes and percentage of total household waste
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