THE END OF KENT COMMUNITY RECYCLING..AS IT WAS

At Kent Communty Recycling we are still being deluged with enquiries as to why such a civic amenity closed down.
The website alone attracted in excess of 250,000 hits a year.

These are the facts:

For some years Kent Community Recycling received payments for diverting materials from the waste stream and recycling them. They are known as recycling credits.
They were paid on a per tonne basis by Kent County Council on behalf of the Government.
These payments were vital to Kent Community Recycling as its workload continually increased.

Unknown to Kent Community Recycling, in 2006 DEFRA issued a directive prohibiting materials sourced from educational establishments and businesses from qualifying for these Recycling Credits.

Whilst understanding that materials supplied directly from businesses were to be exempted, the fact was that many businesses supported schools and and youth groups by giving them materials which, thanks to Kent Community Recycling, they could convert to valuable funds amounting to £685,000.00

There was no way that Kent Community Recycling could sign declarations that material received was not sourced from directly from businesses.

Add to that situation the fact that working with educational establishments was the core activity of Kent Community Recycling, and you can see the scale of the problem.

These Recycling Credits which provided the majority of Kent Community Recycling's income could no longer be honestly claimed.

The income received from industry for top quality materials bought from Kent Community Recycling was not enough to cover the running costs of KCR.

Whilst plans were made to replace the lost income, an approach for ONE-OFF support was made to Shepway District Council for £37,500.00, just 5% of the £750,000.00 they are saving each year from their new joint waste contract with Dover District Council and Kent county Council.

Shepway District Council replied that whilst they valued the work carried out by Kent Community Recycling as a not-for-profit Community Interest Company, they did not feel that Kent Community Recycling was worthy of their support, despite the massive show of support from the community that it had served for 22 years.

THAT IS EXACTLY HOW IT WAS