Waste and Recycling

Jersey produces 100,000 tonnes of waste that is mostly biodegradable (can rot) or can be burned.

It is estimated that each person in Jersey produces 475 kg per year. The target set by the EU is 300kg per person.

The amount of waste Jersey produces has grown by about 3 per cent every year for the last 20 years. The current waste strategy aims to reverse this trend and restrict growth to around 1 per cent.

While recycling undoubtedly helps, the best strategy for reducing household waste is to limit your consumption in the first place. People truly committed to reducing waste consider the impact of their consumption on the environment before they buy, not afterwards when the damage has already been done.

Something further to consider are the hidden energy costs of recycling. A considerable amount of consumer waste, including waste paper from Jersey, is exported to China.

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Waste Action points

  • Buy quality, durable goods that last.
  • Buy goods that can be easily recycled into products people want.
  • Share expensive household items and tools with friends and relatives.
  • If you have something you don't need, e-cycle it.
  • Avoid food with excess packaging, ready meals and takeaways.
  • Start a worm bin for composting organic waste from the kitchen ... you can get worms from the angling shops on St Catherines breakwater and in the fish market in St Helier.
  • The Transport and Technical Services Department provide low cost home composting kits which are available through nine garden centres for just £10.
  • Ring your parish hall for the dates of glass collections
  • Take your old newspapers and magazines to a recycling point. Telephone the recycling officer on 601586 or visit www.gov.je/recycling to find the nearest one to you.
  • Take your unwanted clothes or other goods to the second hand shops in town or to the textile recycling banks. The Salvation Army will take any textiles in any condition as long as they are small enough to fit in a household washing machine (even underwear, bed linen and torn clothing) - they recycle everything they cannot re-use
  • There are now 9 household battery collection banks and more than 80 aluminium can collection points around the island. Householders can also bring cardboard boxes either to Bellozanne or Reclamit at Rue Des Pres Trading Estate.
  • Transport and Technical Services offer parents a £30 discount voucher to try modern washable nappies.
  • Avoid junk mail by signing up to the Mail Preference Service
  • Printer cartridges can be refilled. If not, donate used cartridges to the Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centre.
  • Old mobile phones can be recycled at the Jersey Telecom retail outlet or the Post Office counters in Broad Street.
  • Explore reusable menstruation products click on sanpro on the Womens Environmental Network website

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