02 October 2008
Twenty tonnes of newspaper and magazines will be travelling to France this weekend as part of a trial to investigate the feasibility of working more with our Continental neighbours on recycling.
Transport and Technical Services and their recycling partner Reclamait Ltd., have set up the trial to compare the option with the current UK export route. Condor Logistics and their French partners Morvan Fils are providing the freight services.
The materials, collected from the Island’s recycling points would normally travel by ship and road to Ayelsford Newsprint in Kent but this week will be diverted to a paper mill in Rouen, Normandy.
The project is part of the ongoing activities of the States’ working groups set up with the Brittany and Normandy Councils to foster more links with those areas in a number of government policy themes such as Tourism, Education and the Environment.
Guy de Faye, Minister for Transport and Technical Services, said “ This is an exciting development as it may provide a link slightly closer to Jersey, improving the environmental performance of our recycling in terms of distances travelled. Our counterparts in France have helped greatly by guiding us toward the companies we are now working with.”
For the last 10 years the majority of Jersey’s recycling products have travelled to reprocessors in the UK. Transport costs and relatively low prices for the materials have historically made the French option unattractive, but the strong Euro and higher paper prices have made the option a better proposition.
Transport and Technical Services currently collect around 5,000 tonnes each year of paper and cardboard from public recycling bring banks and commercial schemes. This figure is set to grow over the next few years, so finding good outlets to send the materials to is key. If the trial is successful it may become a permanent activity, with other materials such as plastic bottles and electronic items being considered for shipment to France in the future.
gov.je