Background
Launched in late 2006 by leading social housing providers The Riverside Group and Plus Housing Group together with the Seddon Group, Circle Liverpool Limited offers an alternative, cost effective and environmentally-friendly solution to the disposal of construction waste in Liverpool. Since its inception, over 12,000 tonnes of waste has been processed , achieving in excess of 80% recycling rate, and, during 2008, the tonnage is expected to increase by 50%.
Standing for Construction Industry Recycling Centre for the Local Environment, CIRCLE has ensured local communities benefit from the scheme, with a policy to support selected community projects, one of which is for Community 7.
Circle recently received a Highly Commended award in the Housebuilding Innovation Awards 2007.
Project
Aimed at discouraging fly tipping and reducing landfill usage, Community 7 manages a monthly collection programme in the Kensington area of Liverpool. Once a month, a dozen bright green Circle skips are strategically located around the area for residents to dispose of their own building
waste.
The concept, which is also being trialled by the Tranmere Neighbourhood Group and Liverpool Housing Trust, contributes to Merseysides efforts to hit the Governments recycling target to significantly reduce landfill usage, as required by the European Landfill Directive.
The ongoing programme has proved to be a real success, with Circle collecting 320 loads from pleased Kensington residents since January 2007, and it is hoped this will continue for the foreseeable future.
Endorsement
Our aim as an organisation was to reduce our carbon footprint and the excellent service we have received from CIRCLE has enabled us to achieve this. Working with such a fantastic team has allowed us to educate residents and help them understand the positive impact recycling has on the community by reducing fly tipping - which has been met with an extremely positive response. Indeed, quite often there is a queue of residents awaiting the delivery of the monthly skips!
The team at CIRCLE are extremely helpful and accommodating and we have built up a great relationship. The joy with CIRCLE is it goes further than just collecting waste, it recycles a high proportion of it. And the detailed statistics we receive from them each month allows us to validate the reduction in our carbon footprint. It has been a tremendous success and we look forward to working with the team at CIRCLE for many years to come.
Michael Bowles, Project Co-ordinator, Community 7