Why Bring Banks Provide the Best Type of Recycling

Whenever a municipal waste collection authorities want to start recycling the first and most obvious thing to do is to create Bring Banks. I am sure that everyone has seen and probably used a Bring Bank and more and more of them are being created around the world.

A Bring Bank is simply a collection of marked recycling containers for a variety of recycled materials which is placed near the centre of town and inside recycling centres for the public to put materials which can be recycled at a premium, and which can usually be resold or re-distributed by charity organisations around the world.

Bring Banks provide the best, most sustainable, type of recycling because the recycled materials:-

1.often have a market value which at least pays for their transport to the point of recycling/re-use;
2.if the Bring Bank is well located, for example in the car park of a supermarket, very little if any energy/fuel is wasted to collect the recyclable and reusable materials;
3.this form of recycling is provided more cheaply than by kerbside collection, or sorting in a MRF (Materials Recovery Facility) or an MBT Plant (Mechanical Biological Treatment Plant).

Many local authorities or municipalities have found that a high recycling participation rate can be achieved if an adequate range of bring banks are located to maximise convenience.

If people have to make specific journeys to deliver recyclables to bring banks there can be transport impacts and participation may then be limited to those who have their own transport. However, it can be difficult to find enough locations for banks that are both convenient and do not invite opposition from local residents.

The accessibility and convenience of bring banks influences the amount of material recovered by their use; decreasing the number of people served per site is typically linked to increasing material recovery.

In the UK, some authorities have achieved provision of one bring site per 750 households and, where there is a high concentration of bring sites, there is evidence that a reduction of 10-15% in refuse can be achieved. For convenience, bring sites should be located in accessible, high traffic areas that are visible yet secure from vandalism.

Bring banks and vehicle access to them must be on hard standing with sufficient space and access both for householder's vehicles and the collection vehicles.

It is suggested that if a location cannot justify or support a stationary bring bank site, one alternative would be to employ a mobile bring station. The mobile station would be moved to each position according to a published and advertised rota. Residents, knowing the schedule would bring their recyclables to the staffed station when it stops in their community, and recycling would be improved.

Steve Evans is a waste management expert and writes for the leading waste technology web site about Mechanical Biological Treatment. Find out more about waste  technologies like Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs), Plasma Technology, Autoclaving, and even Incineration.