• Business
  • Community
  • Education
  • Environment
  • Health and wellbeing
  • Blog
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
Search
  • Listen or translate
Sign in
Welcome! Log into your account
Forgot your password? Get help
Password recovery
Recover your password
A password will be e-mailed to you.
  • Business
  • Community
  • Education
  • Environment
  • Health and wellbeing
  • Blog
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
Home Community South Gloucestershire to introduce more durable and environmentally friendly recycling boxes
  • Community
  • Newsroom Email

South Gloucestershire to introduce more durable and environmentally friendly recycling boxes

By
Editor
-
13th March 2019
0
1727
Share on Facebook
Tweet on Twitter

Recycling in South Gloucestershire is set to become even more environmentally friendly following a decision taken by the council to replace the green and white bags for residents use for their recycling. Instead, additional green recycling boxes will be provided when bags need to be replaced.

The decision was made following a 12-week public consultation. Replacing the bags with boxes will further improve our environmental performance and follows the successful implementation of our council Waste Strategy, which has already seen an increase to weekly kerbside recycling collections and the introduction of smaller general waste bins, both measures which are helping to drive down the amount of waste sent to landfill and significantly increase the amount of material recycled.

The key focus of the proposal to replace the bags over time is to reduce the environmental impact of collections. The current bags are not themselves recyclable and as they deteriorate over time they release plastic fragments into the environment. Furthermore, they are manufactured overseas and have to be shipped to the UK. Therefore, in the interests of reducing plastic waste, improving sustainability and protecting our environment, it was proposed to discontinue use of the bags.

The green recycling boxes are also made from recycled plastic; they are much sturdier, which means they do not fragment and when damaged beyond use they can be recycled again with rigid/hard plastics. The boxes are also safer and easier for our collection crews to use because they can be hooked onto the side of collection vehicle to be emptied.

In addition, the bags have to be replaced more regularly than boxes as they deteriorate and blow away, so there are also potential cost savings for the council of around £100,000 per year.

Some residents already use boxes for all their recycling. However, those using the green and white bags alongside the green box can continue to do so. We will continue to provide the bags until the existing stock runs out. From that point, green boxes will be delivered to replace damaged or missing bags when requested by residents.

We recognise that some residents may have difficulty in moving boxes to the kerbside for collection. We already provide an assisted collection for those households where no resident is able to take their containers to the kerbside and this service is also available for those who need help putting out their boxes.

Cabinet Member for Communities and Tourism, Councillor Paul Hughes, said: “We all want to do our part to help preserve and protect our environment and so it makes sense to make our efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle as clean and as green as they can be.

“Moving to more environmentally sound boxes for recycling makes sense for the places we live, for the crews who collect our waste and potentially saves the council significant funds.

“Our success in delivering on our Waste Strategy – driving down waste sent to landfill and driving up the amounts we can divert to recycling – has always been a joint venture between the council and the community. I am sure that this will be just the latest and not the last time that we work together to keep South Gloucestershire clean and green.”

Residents are still asked to sort their recycling and group items together in the green boxes. Our collection system is based on households using green boxes and a food waste bin, if you need extra green boxes for your recycling you can order them free of charge at www.southglos.gov.uk/sortit or pick them up from our One Stop Shops and Sort It recycling centres.

Since the implementation of the council’s Waste Strategy 2015-2019, which saw the change to weekly recycling and smaller black bins, South Gloucestershire now recycles 51.6 per cent of all household waste. We have collected an extra 4,495 tonnes of recycling since January 2018, thanks to the efforts of our residents to recycle more.

  • TAGS
  • recycling
SHARE
Facebook
Twitter
  • tweet
Previous articleWinterbourne Medieval Barn improvement work begins
Next articleTwo authors share first place at Concorde Book Award 2019
Editor

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

Councillor Rachael Hunt at Emersons Green Library.

Emersons Green Library to be extended with additional space for children

Councillor Sam Bromiley, cabinet member responsible for children and young people, Michelle George and Candice Littleton from Majestic Gymnastics, Leader of South Gloucestershire Council Councillor Toby Savage, and representatives of construction company K P Wilton & Son

Council teams up with gymnastics club to mark progress of new facility on former Grange School site

A group of people sitting together and stacking their hands in the middle

South Gloucestershire community groups awarded Area Wide Grants funding

Recent Posts
  • Emersons Green Library to be extended with additional space for children
  • South Wales and Western England leaders join forces to plan for the area’s future transport
  • Flood risk on South Gloucestershire roads reduced after three years of resilience work
  • Council secures more than £700,000 to provide new sports facilities for Patchway
  • Over 5,000 new trees planted across South Gloucestershire this season
Categories
  • Budget
  • Business and economy
  • Chair
  • Children and Young People
  • Climate and nature emergency
  • Community
  • Digital inclusion
  • Education
  • Environment
  • Featured
  • Featured
  • Health and wellbeing
  • Housing
  • Leader's blog
  • Newsroom Email
  • Newsroom Email Featured
  • Transport

EDITOR PICKS

South Gloucestershire Council 2021/2022 Budget

Recover and Rise Budget will take forward council priorities and provide...

11th February 2021
Vehicles queuing for community surge testing for Covid-19 variant in Emersons Green

An update on surge testing in Bristol and South Gloucestershire

10th February 2021
Covid-19 Get Tested - community surge testing available - A mutation of the Covid-19 UK variant is present in parts of Bristol and South Gloucestershire. Everyone aged 16 or over without symptoms in eligible postcodes should get tested to help suppress this variant, and help protect their loved ones.

Two additional testing sites to open for community surge testing

9th February 2021

POPULAR POSTS

Vehicles queuing for community surge testing for Covid-19 variant in Emersons Green

Additional Community Testing for South Gloucestershire and Bristol

6th February 2021
Covid-19 Community surge testing

Further surge testing announced in South Gloucestershire

28th February 2021

First Covid-19 Community Testing Unit to open in South Gloucestershire at...

30th September 2020

POPULAR CATEGORY

  • Newsroom Email679
  • Community365
  • Environment221
  • Health and wellbeing188
  • Transport154
  • Business and economy133
  • Education133
  • Newsroom Email Featured47
  • Climate and nature emergency24
ABOUT US
FOLLOW US
©