Smaller wheelie bin plan to get people to recycle more

Black wheelie bins could be slashed in size by a quarter in a town hall drive to boost recycling.

Environment chiefs want to gradually roll smaller general waste bins out across Manchester as they look to save cash and cut landfill. Blue and brown bins – for paper and glass – will more than double in size if the plans are agreed by councillors. But any household needing a new or replacement black wheelie bin would be given a 180-litre version instead of the current 240-litre size. In some parts of south Manchester an even smaller 140-litre bin is being considered.

The city currently recycles around 37pc of its rubbish – higher than some Greater Manchester authorities but nowhere near as much as council bosses would like. While neighbouring Salford – which uses the same large bins as Manchester – recycles less at around 30pc, Stockport, which has used 140-litre bins for several years, has one of the highest rates in the country at 63pc. Over the next two years, Manchester bosses want to cut costs by £540,000 by increasing recycling, which is cheaper to process than landfill.

As well as cutting the size of its bins, they are considering a ‘closed lid’ policy, meaning over-filled bins would not be collected. They are also reviewing a rule that gives families of six or more an extra bin. Meanwhile contractors are currently removing any ‘unauthorised’ black bins they find at properties in north and central Manchester, before moving onto the south in the next few weeks.

Manchester currently pays around £32m a year to dump household waste in landfill – a figure council bosses say is not sustainable. Coun Nigel Murphy, Manchester City Council’s executive member for the environment, insisted the new 180-litre bins would help. He added: “Although these black bins would still be larger than those used in some of our neighbouring authorities, they would encourage people to think more carefully about what they throw away as more than 70 per cent of items put into black bins can be recycled.”

Source: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/smaller-wheelie-bin-plan-people-4029393

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