Commercial Waste Management Whitby

Whitby is a popular and historic seaside town on the east coast of North Yorkshire. Situated in the North York Moors National Park, it has a population of around 13,500 people and a rich maritime heritage. There have been recorded settlements here since the Saxon period but the erection of the Abbey in 657 AD marked the birth of the town. Divided by the River Esk, the town splits into two distinct halves joined by a swing bridge. The cobbled old town to the East, and the newer, but still very old, town across the bridge, generally known as West Cliff.

Attractions include the famous 199 steps which take people from the top of Whitby Abbey down into the old town’s maze of narrow streets and shops selling antiques, crafts, and jewellery made from locally mined Whitby jet. There’s also the Dracula Experience, a nod to the Irish author Bram Stoker who stayed in The Royal Hotel and used the churchyard and town as his inspiration for his famous Gothic novel, which has led to countless more books, television programmes and movies about the blood-drinking Count.

Whitby is also home to the Captain Cook Memorial Museum, telling the life of explorer Captain James Cook, who started his adventures whilst living in the town. Among the biggest events in Whitby is the Goth Weekend and Bram Stoker Film Festival, both of which swell the already impressive tourist numbers in this tourist hotspot. Whitby is also full of quaint tearooms, gift shops and characterful pubs. Popular businesses in Whitby include the world-famous Magpie Café, Whitby Seafoods and the Whitby Gazette newspaper.

There are a number of interesting community groups that use Whitby as their base, some of which are dedicated to preserving the historical nature of the town. Whitby Civic Society was set up in 1996. The group meets at least once a month to report on any upcoming planning issues that might put historical structures at risk, there’s also a monthly public lecture and magazine which is distributed to members. Whitby Literature and Philosophy Society is another well-established group (starting in 1823) that was set up with the purpose of maintaining Whitby’s museum, which remains open to the public.

Whitby’s household waste collection is managed by Scarborough District Council. The Council organises the waste collection for dozens of areas including Castle, Derwent Valley, Eastfield, Northstead and Scarborough. The estimated total population relying on these waste collections amounts to over 108,000.

Unfortunately, the District did not start out with the best recycling rates in North Yorkshire. Back in 2007 government statistics recorded that just 25.9% of all household waste was sent for reuse, recycling or composting. Thankfully, the council and the local population were able to pull together and improve these figures for 6 consecutive years, culminating in 2013/14 when 43.75% of all waste was reused. Whilst these figures have dropped again in recent years, they have remained stable at approximately 38%, just 4 percent below the national average.

The Whitby community has shown that it is willing to do its part in improving their local environment and cutting down on litter. The Friends of Pannet Park are a group of volunteers from Whitby who formed in 2005. Since then, they have completed a total of 200,000 hours of community gardening which has included keeping the park clear of any waste. Likewise, in the summer of 2019, a group of teenagers from Whitby and Scarborough joined forces to organise an open beach clean. The group were participating in the National Citizen Service and also took time to visit residents at Peregrine House and engage them in activities involving building sculptures out of the waste they collected from the beach clean.