Hard at Work Managing Our Waste ; Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority

A UNIQUE partnership on Merseyside enables the region’s 800,000 tonnes of domestic waste a year to be disposed of safely and effectively, with a high proportion being recycled.

Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority (MWDA) is responsible for managing the waste produced by the residents of Merseyside. Working in partnership

MWDA carries out this responsibility in partnership with Mersey Waste Holdings Ltd (MWHL), Merseyside’s leading waste management company.

MWHL has facilities strategically placed throughout the area for management, disposal, collection and recycling of household and commercial waste.

MWHL manages 14 Household Waste Recycling Centres across Merseyside on behalf of the Authority – open to the general public, the sites offer the opportunity for residents to recycle many different types of waste, free of charge.

Recycling at these sites has increased from 14% in December 2004 to 25% in December, 2005. There is still much room for improvement, but this is a good start and a credit to the public of Merseyside.

There is no doubt there is much more awareness of the benefits of recycling to both local and global environments.

The company uses various methods to encourage recycling and, in particular, arranges informative and interesting visits to the sites by local community groups and schools, etc. Taking part in this way gives local people a feeling of “ownership” of their nearby sites and makes people want them to succeed.

In a wider context, MWHL each year provides financial help to up to five students from Merseyside, studying for an environmentally- related qualification at Liverpool John Moores University.

In fact, one of the first students to graduate under this scheme promptly found employment in Sefton Borough Council’s environmental services department.

In addition, MWHL disposes of waste collected by district councils across the region via its three Waste Transfer stations to landfill sites in the North West. Landfill tax credits from these disposal arrangements are diverted to local environmental bodies, such as Groundwork, to finance much-needed local environment projects. New for 2006

Work on a new multi-million pound integrated waste management facility is expected to be completed this spring.

The 3.5 hectare site in Bidston, Wirral, was redeveloped to increase the recycling facilities in the region as part of MWDA’s strategy to maximise recycling and reduce the 700,000 tonnes of waste Merseyside sends to landfill each year.

The site includes a new household waste recycling centre, waste transfer station, materials recycling facility capable of sorting dry recyclables, an in-vessel composting facility able to process green and food waste and a visitors’ centre.

The site will be operated by MWDA’s contractor Mersey Waste Holdings Ltd, who are working with MWDA and Wirral Council to reduce the waste households consume and maximise opportunities to reuse and recycle materials.

Cllr John Fletcher, chairman of the Waste Disposal Authority, said: “We are increasing our investment in new facilities as recycling is already increasing in Merseyside, and we need to harness this and encourage a steep change in behaviour.

“This new facility updates our previous centre and provides state- of-the-art facilities for people in Wirral to recycle.

“As part of our plans for the future we will also be looking at new waste management facilities across Merseyside.” Joint strategic approach

Working with the five district councils across the region, MWDA has developed a new long-term waste management strategy for Merseyside, the aim of which is to improve people’s quality of life by ensuring that waste is sustainably managed to bring about the best combination of environmental, economic and social benefits.