HAMPSHIRE County Council has been accused of Ôcovering upÕ a huge waste scandal after it was revealed that tonnes of recycled material is ending up in landfill sites.
And Project Integra, a partnership of all local authorities in Hampshire who deal with reprocessing recyclables, has admitted sending material to landfill sites because it cannot cope with the amount.
But Hampshire County Council are ultimately responsible for waste disposal and more than 1,300 tonnes of recyclables could have been dumped since May 2002.
Liberal Democrat county councillor Keith House is now demanding answers.
He said: ÒWhy was this allowed to happen? And why were councillors kept in the dark? Did they think that if they covered it up the issue would go away? Or that they would not be found out?Ó
ÒHampshire people deserve answers to very basic questions about the way the county council is handling HampshireÕs waste.Ó
In a statement, Project Integra said that due to the success of public participation it does not have the capacity to deal with the amount of recycled material being collected at this time.
Councillor Richard Williams, chairman of Project Integra, said: ÒUnfortunately this has meant that in
the short term a very small percentage of poorer quality
recyclable material has had to
be land-filled.Ó
He added that a plan has been drawn up to pay for reprocessing in other parts of the country until the countyÕs new plant at Alton is up and
running.
Project Integra states: ÒThis will be at a premium price over the cost of land-filling. The extra funds will come from the sale of recyclable material.Ó
But Patrick Burridge, vice chairman of Project Integra and East Hampshire district councillor, urged residents to Òhave faithÓ.
He said: ÒProject Integra has long-term contracts in place for the reprocessing of materials recycled by the residents of Hampshire.
ÒTo continue to meet the contractual obligations and to utilise the additional reprocessing capacity now available, residents are urged to continue recycling as they have always done, and have faith that we will find a solution to reprocessing it.Ó
Project Integra also stated that Hampshire has one of the highest recycling rates in the country and at 25 per cent is twice the national average.