CWM HARRY LAND TRUST
Food locally grown, food-waste recycled

Presteigne and Norton Zero Waste

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What can I recycle?

Paper & card
Tetrapak drinks cartons
Glass
Plastic bottles
Plastic film
Various plastic packaging
Steel
Aluminium cans, castings, pans
Other metals
Tin foil
Textiles – including soft toys
Food waste, cooked and uncooked
Electrical items – large and small
Mobile phones
Batteries
Furniture
Wood
Light bulbs – strip lights, low energy bulbs

Waste collection

Many of the above items are environmentally costly to produce from the raw material. For example, virgin land is despoiled to mine bauxite, the source material for aluminium. In many cases there is a huge energy (and carbon) saving to recycling the item in some form.

If you are uncertain about whether a particular item can be recycled you can ring the Cwm Harry office on telephone 01686 626234

Waste on line [external website] gives a comprehensive list of how different items are recycled.

What will happen to the waste?

Cwm Harry has secured a depot. The site will be used to bulk up 'recyclate' such as plastic bottles. When there is a sufficient volume of any product it will be sold onwards for re-processing.
Income from the sale of recyclate will be given to local charities selected by participants in the scheme.

How will this work?

The depot will also be used to hold items, such as textiles, furniture and bicycles, which are re-usable. The depot will open once a month for a 'Swap Shop'. Householders will be able to bring along unwanted items, such as excess building materials, and to swap them for something which they need. It is also hoped that by working with charity shops, the local Freecycle, and other groups, that many items will soon find a new home.

Food waste is taken to the Biogen-Greenfinch Company of Ludlow, which has an anaerobic digester. Here organic waste is processed in a closed vessel so that air is excluded. Methane is produced. The methane is then burned and electricity generated. Electricity surplus to requirements is sold into the National Grid.

Is this rubbish, or could it be recycled? How can I tell?

Many discarded products are made of two or more materials. This makes them difficult to categorize. Cartons used for storing drinks such as fresh fruit juice are an instance of this. The paper carton is often coated with plastic, and also with foil. Superficially, it appears to be paper but should it go in with other card, should it be classed as plastic, or even as rubbish?

(In this case the cartons should be placed in the recycling box which holds containers. These cartons, also known as ‘Tetrapak,’ can be recycled at one plant in the UK.)

Cwm Harry will issue householders with a leaflet outlining what can be recycled and how householders can find answers to their queries.

The Cwm Harry crew will be on hand to answer your questions as they carry out the collection.

Food waste

Food waste collection is planned to start in advance of the rest of the recycling scheme.

Housholders will be supplied with a kitchen caddy, compostable bags and an outdoor storage bin to enable them to participate. Leaflets will be supplied to introduce and explain how the system works. The waste is collected separately from the rest of the household rubbish, each week.

The term ‘food waste’ is used to describe both uncooked and cooked waste: the peelings generated when food is prepared; food which has gone bad; and cooked food, such as scraps left on the plate, meat bones, tea bags.

Householders say that the system is easy to use and a good way of controlling odours in the kitchen. The waste collected in Presteigne and Norton will be converted to methane at the Biogen plant in Ludlow.

Waste collection

What will happen to bulky items?

Arrangements for the removal of bulky items will remain the same. People should phone Powys County Council who will then make arrangements for Cwm Harry to collect the items.

Repair Workshops

Cwm Harry is planning to set up workshops so that people can learn how to make repairs to items which have broken or become unusable for some reason. The scope of these workshops will reflect interest and demand from the community.

If you have a particular expertise you would be happy to share, or if you have a particular request please let us know.

Swap shop

Regular week-end swap shops are planned at the depot. People will be encouraged to bring along an unwanted item and to swap it for something they need. The range of items is unlimited, and could include machinery, furniture, textiles.

If you have any suggestions for improving and encouraging recycling in Presteigne & Norton please let us know.

Contact Cwm Harry

Your waste, your choice

When you set out your waste it has a potential financial value as 'recyclate.' Cwm Harry has devised a method whereby this value can be returned to the community.

Presteigne and Norton are to be divided into five daily collection areas. Collected recyclate will be weighed at the end of each day’s round and the details recorded. This means that it will be possible to determine the total weight of any recyclate from any given area of the town.

At the start of the scheme each householder in a given collection area will be given a voting share in what happens to the income from the sale of the recyclate.

In consultation with Presteigne and Norton Town Council, Cwm Harry will select a number of local charities to be recipients of any income raised. Householders will be able to vote for the charity of their choice. The money raised will be distributed to the charities in proportion to the votes cast, and the amounts publicized on the website.

Biogen AD plant
Biogen-Greenfinch Company of Ludlow