Praise for Wigan plastic recycling on national radio

Ian Burns, the waste disposal and strategy manager at the local authority, contributed to the BBC World Service show Digital Planet when it considered new high-tech approaches to sorting out rubbish.

The borough was praised on the programme for its recycling efforts, saying Wigan recycles more plastic per person than anywhere else in the UK.

The programme was looking at how artificial intelligence (AI) could be used to sift more effectively through the mountains of recyclable rubbish which are taken from facilities such as the centre at Kirkless to large processing plants.

Mr Burns was keen to talk up the potential benefits of this for Wigan residents, saying more money will be generated for the borough the more rubbish is recycled and the quicker and more efficiently this is done.

He said: “There are different approaches to recycling. In Wigan things like glass bottles, plastic and metals are mixed together, while some authorities sort it on the kerbside as they go along.

“The waste then goes to a materials recycling facility.

“Infra-red beams identify polymer types in plastic, magnets are used to sort cans, and sometimes people stand next to conveyor belts picking rubbish off them.

“We were discussing how technology could improve the sorting levels.

“AI could find things that shouldn’t be in there, like a glove or a children’s toy, and make provision for it to be taken out of the system.

“If you can teach the computer to do this it could make sorting the rubbish quicker and the quality of the material being produced will be better.

“This will have a knock-on effect because it will increase recycling, we will sell the products for more and it will reduce costs. It will have a knock-on effect here in Wigan.”

Much of Wigan’s rubbish is taken to an enormous processing facility in Birmingham to be sorted along with waste collected in many other local authorities.

When the rubbish arrives a sample is taken and the percentages of each material being recycled is calculated.

This is then used to work out how much of the proceeds of recycling these materials each local authority receives.

Mr Burns admits that at the moment the market for recycled material is currently quite poor, but Wigan’s windfall from its recycling will increase when things pick up economically.

He also made clear that while recycling is a good thing to do it is equally important to reduce the amount of material needing to be put in the bin, particularly single-use plastic.

The council is planning to consult on this issue in the near future.

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