Blue bins could be returning to these areas of Derby

Published: 10 July 2019

Next week, the Council’s Cabinet will be asked to approve the reintroduction of free blue bin collections to three areas of the city.

If given the green light, blue bins will be returning to the streets of Normanton, Arboretum and Mackworth from the autumn.

Councillor Jonathan Smale, Cabinet Member for Streetpride and Public Protection commented:

We know that communities have been crying out for this for some time now, and I’m delighted to be bringing this report to Cabinet – it’s something I’ve pushed for throughout my time as Cabinet Member. With the government’s target of 50% of all household waste to be recycled by the end of 2020, we want to work with the people of Derby to achieve this. Part of accomplishing this is to enable more households in Derby to recycle by reintroducing kerbside collections. Community recycling hubs as an alternative to kerbside collections didn’t work – repeated misuse and fly tipping meant that it wasn’t sustainable. This is the best way forward at this stage, alongside educating our residents to make sure they know what can and can’t be recycled.

Proposals have been drawn up with the voice of the community in mind – many of whom have advocated for the reintroduction of blue bins – as well as government targets for recycling.

If approved, households would be invited to register their property for collections. Residents who still have a blue bin could see collections start as soon as November this year. For those who need to order a new bin, collections are expected to start in December.

Blue bins were removed in these areas in 2013, following concerns about contamination to recycling. This meant that items couldn’t be recycled

Why does contamination matter? Isn’t the recycling sorted anyway?

Once collected, materials are taken to a site and sorted into different streams (paper, plastics, glass etc.) but if items or bins are ‘contaminated’ – with things like food or household waste – they can’t be processed into the different streams, and an entire load of recycling may be rejected and disposed of.

Even small amounts of really unpleasant waste could ruin a whole load, which significantly increases costs for the Council and ultimately, the taxpayer.

As part of the reintroduction, households will be educated about effective recycling to drive down contamination rates and increase the quality of recyclable materials.

The reintroduction of the blue bins to these areas is estimated to cost a one-off £45,000 in 2019/2020, and £23,000 a year ongoing costs, which will be met through the use of existing budgets.

Cabinet will make a decision at their meeting on Wednesday 17th July.

Waste