First anniversary for The Green Blues recycling programme
by Emma Slater, RYA 31 May 2009 10:42 BST
The Green Blue celebrates the first anniversary of its marine recycling programme this month © RYA
The Green Blue celebrates the first anniversary of its marine recycling programme this month, and is delighted to report that over the last 12 months some 7.4 million litres of marine waste has been diverted from landfill sites and recycled thanks to the initiatives of the programme.
“We have worked with 15 marinas and 7 Sailing clubs along the South Coast over the last year helping them to establish recycling schemes or enhance existing facilities, by introducing recycling bins on pontoons, in offices, bars and tenant areas amongst others”, says Dan Reading, The Green Blue Sustainable Facilities Officer.
Landfill tax currently costs £40 a tonne and is projected to increase to £72 per tonne by 2013, by introducing recycling, which is not subject to landfill tax, the clubs and marinas taking part in the programme have made substantial cost savings. Haslar Marina in Gosport saved £8,000 last year following the introduction of the recycling programme.
Ben Lippiett, Marina Manager from Haslar says: ““We have been delighted with the mixed recycling scheme brought in at Haslar Marina last year. Our customers have been very enthusiastic about the change and we have already seen a large saving by dramatically reducing our landfill waste disposal costs”
As well as providing the recycling facilities The Green Blue provides each club and marina with all the necessary support to promote the new facilities from handouts and posters to berth holder packs outlining all the things that can and can’t be recycled and more information about the work being done by The Green Blue.
Dan goes on to say: “Berth holders have been telling us that they are delighted to have the new facilities available to them, they have wanted to recycle in the past but there was no means to do so, so the feedback has been excellent.
“We have more and more clubs and marinas joining the programme all the time and currently Portland Marina, the venue for the 2012 Olympics, is getting involved in the programme.”
As for the future the recycling programme will be integrated in to The Green Blue’s marine toolkit which is part of the new sustainable facilities programme. This programme offers advice on recycling alongside ways of reducing costs on energy usage, water efficiency and hazardous waste.
To find out more about The Green Blue, recycling and other sustainable facilities projects visit www.thegreenblue.org.uk or call Dan on 02380 604 242