New figures released by South Gloucestershire Council indicate that their new weekly kerbside recycling collections, which began in June 2017, are having a positive effect.

An additional 1,279 tonnes of recycling has been collected, which is a 14 percent increase, including an extra 600 tonnes of paper and cardboard, an extra 364 tonnes of food waste and an extra 315 tonnes made up of plastics, cans and textiles.

Weekly collections mean that householders don’t have to store as much material between collections and the council saves on the financial cost of disposing of black bin waste (not to mention the benefits for the environment).

Waste that cannot be recycled is disposed of either as ‘energy from waste’ or into landfill. With the council having to pay at least £101 to dispose of every tonne of black bin waste in this way, the extra 1,270 tonnes of recycling has allowed it to save around £130,000 since weekly collections began.

The council’s Cabinet member for communities and tourism, Cllr Heather Goddard, said:

“This is fantastic news – I am so pleased that the changes we have made to make recycling easier for residents are paying off. Our communities deserve a real pat on the back for their efforts.”

“Our new waste strategy is all about reducing the waste we send to landfill, which is expensive and no good for our environment. Before we launched our new strategy, 52 percent of waste put into our black bins could have been recycled from home. This first response to making recycling easier is very encouraging.”

More: "The next step is to reduce the size of people’s waste bins" »

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The introduction of smaller black bins, previously scheduled to begin this year (2017), has been quietly postponed by South Gloucestershire Council (SGC).

An SGC spokesperson told the Journal:

“Weekly recycling was introduced in June and is proving popular with residents who can now put out all of their recycling every week. We have seen a steady increase in mixed dry recycling, and in the period June to September we collected an extra 1,200 tonnes, which is approximately a one percent increase to South Gloucestershire’s recycling rate.”

“It was always our intention to roll-out the smaller black bins later in the year (2017), but we have now taken the decision to wait until after December. We know that Christmas is a time when more waste is generated and collections are often slightly delayed as the crews catch up after the break. The roll-out will now start in January 2018 and is expected to be completed during April 2018.”

A report tabled at a meeting of SGC’s Cabinet on 4th December states:

“The main aspect of the Waste Strategy is to encourage recycling by improved recycling collections and the introduction of smaller black bins. Following concerns raised by residents, the move to smaller bins has been moved to after Christmas, but should be complete by May 2018. Early indications of the effect of the new recycling arrangements are positive, but it is too early to see the definitive position – particularly as the new bins are not in place.”

More info: Changes to the waste and recycling service 2017/18 (SGC)

Image: Diagram showing the average volume of black bin waste in a 240-litre bin and the same waste in a 140-litre bin (excludes waste placed in black bins that could have been recycled – on average 52 percent of the bin content, says the council).

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Residents in the Stokes should by now have received a bin hanger (an information card hooked over the lip of the black bin) informing them of the details of South Gloucestershire Council’s new weekly recycling service which is due to be introduced from Monday 19th June.

Under the new regime, households will be able to put all of their recycling containers out for collection every week, along with their food recycling bin, instead of having different recycling containers collected on a staggered two week schedule.

Black bins for non-recyclable waste and green bins for garden waste will continue to be emptied every fortnight.

Residents will still need to sort their recycling for collection but can choose to use their existing containers or green boxes instead of bags for plastics and cardboard.

The weekly collections will mean there are fewer containers to store at home, whilst encouraging more people to use the service.

The council’s bin hanger describes two options for sorting recyclable items across two or three containers and/or bags, leading to criticism that the new system is over complex (see reactions on social media, below).

The scheme being implemented differs from that described in the council’s draft waste strategy put out for public consultation in 2015/16, which proposed that residents would be able “to use the containers how they wish” with collection crews separating material at the kerbside.

The council is making additional recycling boxes available to those who require them and these can be collected at a number of recycling roadshows being held across the district (see below for local events).

Boxes will also be available for collection at the council’s Sort It recycling centres between 5pm and 6pm every day from Monday 5th June to Friday 9th June. The closest to Bradley Stoke is the one in Station Road, Little Stoke.

Later this year, the council will be introducing smaller black bins (140l instead of 240l) for non-recyclable waste. The overall aim of the changes is to meet long term financial and environmental targets.

More information is available at www.southglos.gov.uk/sortit or by phoning the council on 01454 868000.

Photo: One of the council’s new ‘Romaquip’ recycling collection vehicles.

More: Dates of local Recycling Roadshows. Reactions on Facebook. »

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Slimline black bins (140-litre in place of 240-litre) to be introduced later this year.

South Gloucestershire Council has announced that weekly kerbside recycling collections will start on 19th June, marking the first stage in the introduction of a new waste strategy designed to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill, meet recycling targets and save money.

Later in the year, once the new weekly recycling regime has become established, the current 240-litre black bins for non-recyclable household waste will be swapped for smaller 140-litre bins. The council says the old bins will be collected and sold for onward processing where the plastic will be recycled into new recycling boxes. The net cost of purchasing the new bins is £1m.

The simplified recycling service, which runs under the motto “recycle everything, every week” will cover paper, cardboard, plastics, cans, cartons and glass. The weekly food service will continue and residents can continue to use plastic bags to line the food bin.

The council has purchased new ‘single pass’ vehicles to enable it to replace the current two-vehicle system used for recycling collections. The new ‘Romaquips’ can collect all recycling in one go and are claimed to have a longer life span than the current vehicles. By using these vehicles, the council says it can deliver weekly recycling for the same cost as the old two-vehicle fortnightly service. The old vehicles will be sold and the revenue used to help fund the new vehicles at a net cost of £5m.

Residents will still need to sort their recycling for collection but can choose to use their existing containers or green boxes instead of bags for plastics and cardboard. The weekly collections will mean that there is less recycling for residents to store at home over two weeks, whilst encouraging more people to use the service. Additional green boxes will be made available.

More: Bin hangers and roadshows will be used to inform residents »

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