Bedford Borough Council

In May 2016 PPS Recovery Systems Limited (PPS) were engaged by Bedford Borough Council to conduct a Waste Compositional Analysis Study of both residual and Mixed Dry Recyclable kerbside collections.

The analysis itself comprised of a series of sampling stages whereby material from a variety of collection rounds was assessed, segregated, weighed and analysed to provide a comprehensive representation of the material compositions, particularly focussing on the level of non-requested materials.

The sampling process itself took place over a three-week period (13 working days in total). This period ensured that the entire two-week collection schedule from Bedford Borough Council was sampled and analysed to provide a more representative series of results. Each sample was collected from the 150 households chosen by the Council. The objective of the project was to process 1 tonne of Mixed Dry Recyclable material and 1.5 tonne of residual waste.  Over three-weeks approximately 3.2 tonnes of material were analysed.

All materials were segregated and analysed according to a pre-agreed material composition data sheet and the findings and detailed information around the results were sent in detailed report to Bedford Borough Council at the end of the assessment.