Recycling rates in Thanet are poor and there are very few communal facilities for residents without kerbside collection or for visitors in town centres. Yet the Council declared a Climate Emergency in 2019. Many residents are forced to discard recyclable items against their will or to travel at their own expense in search of elusive facilities.

We note that:

• the percentage of waste recycled in Thanet is very low at 34.8, making us 40th out of 51 South East Councils for recycling;
• the percentage of waste recycled here actually reduced between 2018 and 2020;
• 22 percent of Thanet households have no kerbside recycling collections, so they must either discard recyclable items or use private transport to reach restricted facilities spread very thinly across Thanet;
• the household waste sites (provided by KCC) do not permit entry to pedestrians or cyclists and they do not accept plastic recyclable items
• there are no street bins for recycling paper, card, cans or plastics in the town centres; unlike at the privately-run precincts in Westwood Cross
• Thanet District Council declared a Climate Emergency on 11th July 2019 which makes all of this highly inappropriate.

We are therefore asking the Council to:

• provide more recycling facilities (using small-aperture bins to reduce the likelihood of contamination) in appropriate public sites;
• provide small street recycling bins in town centres to encourage and enable more recycling;
• investigate ways to extend kerbside recycling facilities to those streets which do not currently have them;
• provide a clear rationale to residents where such facilities cannot be provided, along with regularly updated advice on how best to use public facilities;
• ensure that in future it applies for all available external funding to improve its street bins and recycling hardware.

Note to our supporters:

This petition has been launched by Ian Shacklock, a resident of Ramsgate, on behalf of residents of Thanet without adequate recycling facilities.

When you add your name to this petition you will have the option to add your own comments. Please feel free to say what improvements you would like to see.