Recycling and composting

In 2007 Surrey residents produced 600,000 tonnes of household waste. Despite improved levels of waste minimisation and recycling more than ever before, the volume of household waste generated in the county is rising every year.

Surrey County Council is making significant investments in waste minimisation and recycling in a number of key areas:

• Co-ordinating a number of waste minimisation education projects to encourage residents and community groups to reduce the amount of waste they produce and recycle more.
• Redeveloping Community Recycling Centres (CRCs) to make recycling easier for everybody.
• Increasing the range of materials that can be recycled at CRCs. Carpet, carpet underlay and bulky plastics like plastic garden furniture are examples of materials that can now be recycled because of improvements at the centres.

Surrey Waste Management

Surrey Waste Management (SWM) has a waste management and disposal contract with Surrey County Council and is working to manage this waste over a 25 year period.

Waste minimisation and increasing recycling is the priority for Surrey Waste Management. SWM is aiming to achieve Surrey County Council's target of 60% recycling of household waste in the county by 2025 which is a challenge. Everyone in Surrey produces waste so we all have a responsibility to dispose of it by the most sustainable means. However, with the support of Surrey's residents, this ambitious recycling target can be achieved.

Lyne Lane is currently being redeveloped and is due to open in July 2008

Diverting waste from landfill sites

Regardless of how much waste is recycled, there will always be an element of waste left over that cannot sensibly be recycled. Surrey must move away from depending upon landfill to dispose of this residual waste in order to meet strict EU targets. We aim to treat the residual waste at state-of-the-art EfW facilities: 160,000 tonnes to Trumps Farm, Longcross, and 110,000 tonnes to Clockhouse Brickworks, Capel.

Around 30% of the waste delivered to the EfW will remain at the end of the process. The majority of this can be recovered and used for block manufacture in civil engineering.