Shrinking the carbon footprint
PAPER recycling is nothing new in Birmingham.
But the beauty of recycling in the city is that the carbon footprint is kept to a minimum.
This is because a paper mill is based in the city which reduces the amount of miles driven to re-process it.
Dave Cowing, commercial manager (Birmingham), is pleased about this and says: “The carbon footprint of paper collected in Birmingham is negligible because it is only moved around the city to be recycled.
“We have worked with Birmingham City Council for more than 15 years and it has gone very well.
“This year we collected 40,000 tonnes of paper from the city and kerb side collection is very successful.”
Dave says there are a number of paper banks around the city that allow people to drop off large amounts of paper where they live.
There are also kerb side collections across Birmingham which also boosts the amount of recycling.
Dave says paper is one of the most efficient materials to be recycled as developments in technology mean it can go through the process up to six times.
Recycling is vitally important for the city and Dave says: “Recycling is so important because we are running out of holes in the ground for landfill.
“Landfill causes its own problems anyway and the thing about paper recycling is that you are getting added value out of it.
“You get more out of a tree if you recycle it as paper fibres can be re-used time and time again.
“For Birmingham this is very good because this material is only travelling a few miles to be recycled.
“Householders have got to think about future generations. Recycling is easy and very sensible so why throw things away? It makes sense, both financially and for the environment.”
