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.
During May, bin hangers will be distributed to every household on their black bins. The hangers will include service change information and collection days until the end of the year.
The council has planned a programme of roadshows to inform residents about the changes. The next one in Bradley Stoke is on 14th June, 9am to 4pm, at the Willow Brook Centre.
For more information, visit www.southglos.gov.uk/sortit
• In a public consultation staged by the council in 2015/16, 62 percent of respondents said they were opposed to the introduction of smaller black bins.
Top: New ‘Romaquip’ vehicles will collect all recycling in one go [Credit: SGC]. Above: 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).
This article originally appeared in the May 2017 issue of the Bradley Stoke Journal news magazine (on page 3). The magazine is delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH, to 9,500 homes in Bradley Stoke, Little Stoke and Stoke Lodge. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.
Postscript (19th May 2017): Extract from bin hanger:
What gets me is that there’s generally nothing wrong with the old black bins, other than being perceiveed as “too big”. £1M is a waste of money, better spent elsewhere to be honest.