UK report finds single-stream collection not up to snuff

UK report finds single-stream collection not up to snuff

By Editorial Staff, Resource Recycling

A new study from an environmental consulting firm in the U.K has found that single-stream collection is not as economical as other collection systems.

Conducted by 4R Environmental, the report analyzed 65 bids between 2008 and 2012 [1] for recycling collection services and found that 51 percent resulted in the procurement of a curbside sort system. Twenty-eight percent were awarded to a single-stream system, and the remaining 21 percent resulted in dual-stream systems.

In only 29 percent of cases examined by the study the procurement process allowed for genuine competition between the two systems, and resulted in 59 percent of local authorities choosing curbside sort systems.

"Senior managers at local authorities who are considering their procurement options might be surprised by these findings and that they will almost certainly benefit from allowing the most open procurement system, rather than prescribing this at the outset," said Andy Bond, the author of the report, in a prepared statement.

The report also points to research from the Waste & Resources Action Programme that provides evidence that sort systems out performed single-stream systems in Wales.

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