We are working with Staffordshire County Council and Resource Futures to carry out waste analysis this spring.
This will involve a team of professional researchers collecting and examining black bin waste from a sample of streets across the district.
The aim of the analysis is to help us all recycle even more - it will help us to prepare for the roll out of our new food waste collection service, set to launch in 2026, and will also give us invaluable insights to help us improve our wider waste services, so we can support everyone across the district to recycle more - in line with our recycle for good campaign.
We're really grateful to everyone for their understanding whilst we carry out this work to help us boost our services to you.
How does sampling work?
- Black bin waste from selected streets will be collected separately by a team from Resource Futures - on the same day as the normal black bin collection day.
- Resource Futures are professional researchers and have a long and proven track record of providing waste research - their collection staff will all carry photographic identification and local police have been made aware and know where they will be working.
- The waste will be taken to a secure depot, sorted by type and weighed.
- The waste will be analysed to identify what it is made of (e.g. what types of waste - paper, card, food etc) and only this information will be recorded.
- Information about individual households will not be recorded, instead, data will be recorded at the street/local area level
- At the end of each day all waste collected will be disposed of in the normal way and any recycling that is collected will be recycled.
- The work is taking place during February.
Key facts
- Households selected for sampling will not be informed prior to the waste being collected - this is to ensure the waste we analyse is representative of the waste our teams normally collect.
- It will not be possible to trace waste back to an individual household and there will be no implications if the team finds the wrong waste in any of the black bins they analyse.
- All waste collected will be treated with care and in complete confidence - if material with personal details is found the details on it will not be recorded or used in any way - it will simply be weighed and classed according to its material type and then will be sent for disposal/recycling via the normal routes.
If you have any questions about this or how you can recycle more, please email recyclingquestions@lichfielddc.gov.uk