Households in North East Lincolnshire will be saying goodbye to their three recycling boxes as the council has agreed to replace them with a pair of wheelie bins.
North East Lincolnshire Council (NELC) will give homes two wheelie bins for their dry recycling following strong public support for the proposal in a recent consultation.
Paper and card will be collected in a blue wheelie bin and plastic bottles, tins, cans and glass bottles and jars in a grey wheelie bin.
Other options will be looked at as part of the plans for properties where there’s not enough space to store the bins. It will also be possible to request smaller sized bins if space is a concern.
The Council will start a public information campaign to inform people about the changes, including what to do with their old recycling boxes, in the next few months.
Weekly food waste collections will also be tried out at some homes in the area in the next 12 months.
DEFRA, the government Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has confirmed it wants English councils to make separate collections for food waste by 2023.
The local trial will help shape how food waste is collected in the future.
NELC will also look into collecting different types of plastic in the new bins. Plastic bottles are the only types of plastic currently collected for recycling.
Cllr Stewart Swinburn, portfolio holder for environment and transport at NELC, said: “More and more of us in North East Lincolnshire are recycling so we’re bringing in new bins to make it even easier. “I’d like to thank everyone who took part in the recent public consultation, your views have helped shape the decisions we made at Cabinet.
“The new bins will help people recycle more while also giving us the flexibility to adapt to changes that might come in the government’s Resources and Waste Strategy. We know more bins won’t be suitable for every property and we’ll look at other options for homes where there’s not enough space. This is one of the first major steps we’ve taken to introduce our new Waste Strategy and, along with the food waste trial, it will vastly improve North East Lincolnshire’s recycling figures.”
By 2035 the Government wants councils to only collect 35 per cent of the waste from households as general household rubbish and 65 per cent as recycling. As people recycle more and with the introduction of future weekly food waste collections, the need for bigger general household rubbish bins will reduce. Under the plans, smaller bins for household waste that can’t be recycled will be made available gradually but won’t be compulsory.
Cabinet members met on Wednesday 11 March to consider the proposals. Read the full report on the Council website.
Article and photo from NELC.
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