Recycling bins closed (From Hampshire Chronicle)

Recycling bins closed

10:05am Tuesday 13th May 2008

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PAPER and cardboard recycling bins were closed at a Winchester supermarket following arson attacks.

A poster informing customers of the decision was placed at the facility in the car park at Tesco in Easton Lane, Winnall.

It read: "Regrettably we have had to close the paper and cardboard recycling facility due to arson attacks. Sorry for the inconvenience."

The store has also closed the bin for cartons, which included Tetra Paks, which can be tricky to recycle. In fact, the store is thought to be the only place in Winchester that collected them.

At present, there are no facilities in Britain for recycling Tetra Paks, such as fruit juice cartons. All those collected in the UK are currently shipped to factories in Sweden.

A Winchester City Council spokeswoman said they did not collect Tetra Paks. She added that the same applied to all other local authorities in Hampshire to their knowledge.

She said shipping the cartons to Sweden would still generate a large carbon footprint. Furthermore, picking up the cartons could prove expensive.

"It would be at a cost to the council, so we wouldn't really be prepared to enter into a contract."

Despite repeated calls, Tesco was unavailable for comment on its decision.

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