Although Hertfordshire Council have achieved some success in reducing the amount of total household waste generally across its various boroughs and districts, including Watford which reduced its total from 861 kg of waste per household in 2011/2012 to 828 kg in 2012/2013, there has also been an overall drop in the use of Hertfordshire’s Household Waste Recycling Centres, with the overall recycling rate across the county declining by more than 15% (source Herts Direct), whilst incidences of fly-tipping in Hertfordshire and the UK overall have risen by approximately 20%, after years of consistent decline.
Green Incentives
To help get back on target in the five years left before that 2020 deadline, Watford Borough Council are currently re-engaging households with the benefits of recycling through a range of incentives, including the most recent free compost giveaway in May 2015. Made from the green bin garden and food waste collected fortnightly by the council, this is seen to be a good start in demonstrating to householders exactly what’s to be gained from recycling, and excellent practice in literally ‘giving back’ in a green way to Watford residents.
Burdensome Cost of Bulky Waste Recycling
However, the big difference between engagement with recycling of garden and food waste and the take up of council facilities for recycling of bulky items is of course the fact that householders have to pay the additional fees for bulky item collection. Take beds and mattresses, for example, with bed disposal in Watford via the council services costing a minimum of £28.50 each time. So what alternatives do Watford households have for disposing of items such as beds?
Which Way for Watford Waste?
When it comes to disposing of an unwanted bed in Watford, there are several ways open to residents, such as taking old mattresses to one of the nearest local disposal sites, these being the Waterdale Household Recycling Centre and Rickmansworth Household Waste Recycling Centre, both of which include designated recycling areas for disposal.However, not all householders have access to the transport needed to take their own items to these centres, so if they cannot pay the council’s collection fee other ways Watford residents can ethically dispose of their old beds include:
- Donation to local charities, although the beds need to be in a good, clean and usable condition and collection is often at the charity’s convenience, not householders’.
- Passing on direct to others who need a bed, through local community groups or via Freegle / Freecycle. However, organising collection times which are convenient to all concerned can be an issue, as one of the most common complaints Freegle users make is that of failed pick-ups.
- Using a private mattress recycling company in Watford.
A less costly, more convenient collection
Of these other ways, using the services of a company such as Collect Your Old Bed can be an ideal solution. Although there is still a cost involved, with single item prices starting from a low £11.99, Collect Your Old Bed prove to be a convenient and cost-effective alternative which, unlike charitable and pass-along donations of old mattresses, offers users the full assurance that all parts of the bed will be 100% recycled.As well as prompt and convenient collection, this recycling is seen as one of the real benefits of disposing of a bed through Collect Your Old Bed, as the component parts of beds are guaranteed to be recycled as:
- Textile items and carpet padding made from recycled mattress fabric.
- Pet bedding and sundries such as kitty litter from recycled wood.
- Mulch and garden chippings from recycled wood.
- Metal components and hardware items created from recycled steel mattress and bed springs.
What’s more, with collection easily available across the Watford area, arranging for a pick-up of unwanted beds and mattresses is also convenient, using a three step process via the Collect Your Old Bed website:
- Enter the postcode for collection.
- Choose the number and types of items to be collected.
- Choose a collection date and add in contact details.
Keeping Watford on target
Finally, with many of the components recovered from old mattresses and beds via Collect Your Old Bed’s recycling process going back into the furniture industry, Watford residents using the service not only benefit from convenient collection at a lower cost than Watford Borough, they are also helping improve local recycling statistics towards that all important EU target.