A recycling scheme developed by Swansea Council could help divert hundreds of tonnes of waste away from landfill sites every year.
Recyclable waste material including bottles and cans often finds its way into some of the 37,000 gullies along Swansea’s roads and pavements.
In the past, the materials collected using the roadside sucking vehicles had been taken to landfill sites but, under the new scheme, the material is being sorted and recycled.
The innovative green scheme will now be extended to cover the entire city.
Carl Humphrey, Head of Highways in Swansea Council, said: “Our vehicles can collect huge amounts of waste during the year. Much of it can be recycled. We recently developed a system which allows us to sort through the waste and collect any recyclable material instead of sending it to landfill.
“We have a duty to do everything that we can to reduce the amount of waste we send to landfill.
Swansea Council’s Highways Service has been recognised for its efforts in environmental issues and has gained level two of the Green Dragon Environment Management Standard.
The awarding of the status helps to keep Swansea among the leaders in environmentally-friendly Local Authorities in Wales.
The Council also owns and operates a special concrete crushing machine which is being used to crush old concrete lampposts or material recovered during highway repairs.
Mt Humphrey added: “Having access to this type of equipment means we can reuse materials we have removed from the roadside such as old lampposts. These would previously have been taken to landfill sites.
“Continuous initiatives such as these have substantially reduced landfill costs and allowed us to reinvest in other areas. They’ve also given us the opportunity to run environmentally-friendly operations.”
