Mixed recycling 'less efficient'

Mixed collection recycling is used by 18 London councils

Mixed recycling schemes are less efficient than kerbside sorting, according to a new report.

The study by Camden Council found more energy was used to separate materials after they had been collected than if residents sorted the recyclables.

Councils using the mixed item approach argue it encourages recycling and results in fewer trucks on the roads.

Camden council said it was looking at how to reduce the environmental impact of its kerbside collection system.

The report compared collections of mixed material (commingled), which are currently used, to a separated kerbside collection that was in operation in 2005-06.

All aspects of the mixed collection service were found to be more efficient, except the performance of the facility where the collected materials are sorted and the transfer of materials to the facility.

Councillor Alexis Rowell said: "It gets impossible to separate the recycling so we end up spending an awful lot of energy trying to separate the commingled collections at a very expensive, energy intensive, facility on the other side of London."

In London 18 councils collect commingled recycling, 8 collect separated items and 5 do a combination of both.

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The popular system in London may not be quite as green as first thought