Woodbury has been chosen to trial a new way of recycling cardboard in East Devon

Cardboard contamination has prompted a new recycling trial being piloted in Woodbury.
Since March, 850 homes in Woodbury have stepped up their recycling efforts, trialling a new way to salvage cardboard.

The experiment has been backed by East Devon District Council (EDDC), in a bid to raise extra cash from cardboard.

The current process of throwing cardboard in the green box along with bottles and jars means it is often contaminated by broken glass and cannot be recycled.

The trial has been funded by SUEZ, the council’s rubbish and recycling contractor, in a bid to make cardboard ‘more sellable’.

Households in Woodbury have been given a weighted white bag specifically for cardboard.
It is hoped the separate collection container will prove more effective and reduce recycle-day littering.

An East Devon District Council spokesperson said: “Collecting cardboard separately may help the SUEZ crews to pick up the recycling more efficiently.

“It will allow the crews to tip cardboard directly into the correct compartment, helping to prevent glass mixing with the cardboard and reducing the amount of time it takes for crews to collect each household’s recycling.

“Currently, cardboard is collected by households in their green box alongside glass. “Sometimes glass is broken in the boxes and this contaminates the cardboard which means that it cannot be recycled.”

The spokesperson added: “The recycling markets are demanding higher quality materials so the council and SUEZ need to ensure that materials are separated well and not contaminated in order to sell them for recycling at the best price possible.

“The money raised through selling recycling helps pay for the collections, so it’s important that good quality materials are collected from households to make the service sustainable in the long term.”

Woodbury was chosen to test the new way of collecting cardboard because it has a mix of properties and makes up a single collection round with one crew, so the trial can be measured more accurately.

The Suez team will hold regular feedback talks with Woodbury residents.