A NEW environmentally-sound system to reduce waste costs has come to Guernsey. Mayside Recycling recently launched its Knapsack service whereby businesses can reportedly save 25% on their disposal of polythene, pallet wrap and shrink wrap.

‘There are more things than people might think that can go into the recycling stream,’ said Tommy Duquemin, one of the company’s directors.

‘One of them is polythene.

‘More public awareness of this should be made, especially with the landfill site filling up at a rapid pace.’

He said that about 90% of Guernsey’s polythene went into the landfill – all of it could be recycled.

‘Polythene can fill up your skips with fresh air, increasing your disposal costs.’

Now, after a programme pioneered in the Netherlands, Mayside will provide bag holders to collect the polythene.

Businesses can place these where it is used so members of staff can put all excess waste into them.

They are perforated with a closing ribbon and have a capacity of about 20kg.

‘We only started two weeks ago and we’ve dragged about two tonnes already. That’s quite an achievement.’

He said the system was a good development in the light of current concerns about the unsustainability of the island’s waste-disposal schemes.

‘People have been shouting from the rooftops about the incinerator.

‘If they want to shout, they can do something about it and one of the answers is to recycle as much as possible.’

The new system can deal with most forms of polythene, although the household type and

black dustbin bags are not acceptable at the moment.

Mr Duquemin said all the waste had to be relatively clean before it could be recycled.