Kevin Finan, Chief Executive Officer of Mid Devon District Council met with members of Sustainable Crediton's Waste Action Group at the Council offices in Crediton on Monday 7th January to discuss recycling in Mid Devon.

Following a recently published article by Mr Finan asking readers for their views about whether there might be a way that the value of the contents of the black box recycling could be returned to householders, Charles Mossman of the Waste Action Group had contacted Mr Finan.

'We were delighted he agreed to come and talk with us' said Charles. 'His visit was very timely as it came in the wake of news released this week that 90% of our Christmas purchases are likely to end up in landfill within the next six months. This is a shocking statistic and proves that much more must be done to increase awareness of what can be recycled and how to improve recycling rates.' 

The group discussed their views and ideas regarding improvements desperately needed to plastics recycling with Mr Finan. They told him about the huge popularity of the plastics collections Sustainable Crediton organises in Crediton. The next of these collections takes place on Saturday 26th January at Peck and Strongs Car Park on Lords Meadow industrial estate from 10am to 12.30pm. He was sympathetic, but stated that funding for the  expansion of recycling by Mid Devon into areas such as collection of mixed plastics was not currently available, and was unlikely to become so within the next few years.

Mr Finan explained the waste collection challenges currently facing Mid Devon District Council, including a substantial drop in central government funding to the authority from 2014 onwards. He also stated that he was currently talking with Devon County Council, who are responsible for the disposal of the waste Mid Devon collects, about the possibility of the construction of an energy from waste plant on the eastern outskirts of Tiverton. This could, if built, deal with Mid Devon's waste issues for at least the next 20 years, whilst producing energy for heating and electricity at the same time.

Paula Mossman, the Waste Action Group facilitator, told the Courier 'Whilst we do not necessarily agree with the view that an Energy From Waste plant is the best way of tackling our long term waste issues, we do appreciate that the Council is constrained by finances in what it can achieve. So we appeal to everyone reading this to take personal responsibility for the disposal of the waste your household produces. We were pleased to hear from Mr Finan that Mid Devon District Council has recently launched a new recycling campaign "Be a Recycling Star" to encourage people to recycle more which they will be actively promoting this over the next few months.

So let's work together to see how much we can actually cut down on waste and improve the amount we recycle in 2013. After all, the less waste Mid Devon has to collect, the less it will cost us in Council Tax rises to pay for its collection and disposal in years to come.