More homes in Bradley Stoke are to be included in an ongoing trial of the collection of plastic bags and wrapping from households as part of the normal weekly recycling collections.
Properties in Wheatfield Drive and Dewfalls Drive have been part of the trial since October 2022.
Further homes in the town have recently received letters informing householders that they are to be added to the scheme from May 2024. Those selected will be provided with a pack of blue collection bags and information ahead of the first collection.
Once full, each blue bag should be tied securely and put in one of your recycling boxes on the normal collection day.
A spokesperson for South Gloucestershire Council said:
“As part of the continuing efforts to increase recycling in South Gloucestershire, the council is expanding its participation in the FPF FlexCollect project, a national scheme to pilot the kerbside collection and recycling of plastic bags and wrapping, [to include] approximately 20 percent of homes in the district.”
Around 20,000 more households will be able to recycle their plastic bags and wrapping from home, as the second phase of the scheme is rolled out to selected collection routes across the district in May.
The programme began in October 2022 with collections from almost 2,000 homes in Chipping Sodbury, Bradley Stoke, Olveston and Alveston.
The new collection routes cover more areas in South Gloucestershire, with a wider mix of types of homes in urban and rural communities.
The packaging that can be recycled for the trial includes all plastic bags and wrappers, for example packets and packaging from sweets, crisps, multipack wrapping, sleeves from plastic bottles, packaging from cheese, meat and fish, microwavable food packets, plastic film lids, bubble wrap, cling film and the net bags that fruit and vegetable are sold in.
To find out more about the trial, visit the Plastic Bags and Wrapping Recycling Local Collections page on the Recycle Now website.
Analysis conducted in 2022 revealed that almost 28 percent of the content of an average black bin emptied in South Gloucestershire was categorised as ‘flexible plastics’.
Since the trial began in October 2022, more than 19 tonnes of plastic bags, wrappers and various packets, with a volume equivalent to over 7,000 black wheelie bins (140-litre-sized) have been collected in South Gloucestershire. Those materials have been sent to a number of UK based recycling facilities to test different recycling methods.
The nationwide pilot project is fully funded by the Flexible Plastic Fund (FPF), DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and UK Research & Innovation’s Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging (SSPP) Challenge until March 2025, and is project managed by SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK Ltd.
The aim of the trial is to understand how plastic bags and wrapping recycling works when collected from households on a large scale. This next phase will help councils, government and the waste industry understand what infrastructure will need to be put in place to allow all councils to offer these the collections in the future. The council plans to roll out the service to all households in South Gloucestershire by 2026.
Only residents who are provided with further information and collection bags should leave soft/flexible plastics out for collection with the rest of their waste and recycling.
Residents who would like to recycle their plastic bags and wrapping who are not part of the pilot can take them to most large supermarkets when they do their regular shopping. At the Bradley Stoke Tesco Extra store, the soft plastic collection points are in the form of large, wheeled cages with white covers, currently located near the self-service checkouts.
For more information about what can be recycled, how and where, visit the Waste and recycling page on the South Gloucestershire Council website.
Notifications completed
UPDATE added 24th April 2024.
South Gloucestershire Council tweeted on Wednesday 24th April 2024:
“Households on the next phase of the trial to collect plastic bags and wrappers have now been notified.”
“If you’re not on the trial, you can still recycle plastic bags and wrappers at some supermarkets.”
The council has also released a list of streets that have been added to the trial: Plastics trial phase 2 areas [ODS]
The streets that have been added in Bradley Stoke are:
- Brackendene
- Brook Way
- Campion Drive
- Crofters Walk
- Cross Tree Grove
- Crystal Way
- Diana Gardens
- Ellicks Close
- Ferndene
- Hawkins Crescent
- Hornbeam Close
- Kingfisher Close
- Linden Drive
- Little Green
- Manor Farm Crescent
- Oaktree Crescent
- Ormonds Close
- Pimpernel Mead
- Poppy Mead
- Primrose Close
- Sages Mead
- Savages Wood Road
- Saxon Way
- Snowberry Close
- Stanley Mead
- Stanshaws Close
- Stevens Walk
- Teasel Mead
- The Common East
- The Culvert
- The Hedgerows
- The Pasture
- The Saplings
- The Spinney
- Three Brooks Lane
- Tresham Close
