A significant shift is on the horizon, with all households expected to have four bins by next year – the first stages of this change could be implemented as early as March 2025. The Labour government has released a policy update stating: ‘For too long, households in England have been presented with a muddled and confusing patchwork of approaches to bin collections’.
The Tory policy, announced in 2023, proposed up to seven bins for various types of waste. However, an updated plan has now been published by the government, reducing the number of bins to four:
The new standard requirement for most homes and workplaces will be four containers, which could include bags, bins or stackable boxes. The document, titled ‘Simpler Recycling in England: policy update’, states: “This is the government’s maximum default requirement and is not expected to increase in the future. However, councils and other waste collectors will still have the flexibility to make the best choices to suit local need. This is a sensible, pragmatic approach to the collection of materials for every household and business in England.”
The scheme aims to standardise policies across England and put an end to the ‘postcode lottery’ of bin collections, where councils collect different materials for recycling, leading to confusion among households.
The changes promise that ‘bad-smelling food waste’ will be collected from all households ‘at least’ once a week, reports Lancs Live.
Officials are optimistic that the upcoming changes to waste collection will boost recycling rates, which have stagnated at around 44% since 2015. The government has set out a timeline for these changes:
For different types of waste management:
– Co-collecting food and garden waste: To give local authorities and households more flexibility, the government is allowing an exemption for the co-collection of food and garden waste. A statement from the document reads: “There is no evidence that this would affect their ability to be recycled or composted, since the materials can always be processed through in-vessel composting when mixed.”
– Dry Materials: It’s recommended that paper and card are collected separately from other dry recyclables to ensure they remain uncontaminated and recyclable. Currently, 121 local authorities in England already practice separate collections for paper and card.
– All other dry recyclables like plastics, metals, and glass may be collected together. This simplification could potentially increase the volume of recycling, outweighing the minor risk of contamination.
According to recent WRAP data, 95 local councils already implement co-collection for these materials in England.
The document further explains: “Simpler Recycling will enable consistent, more streamlined collections from all households, businesses and relevant non-domestic premises (such as schools and hospitals). Local authorities and other waste collectors will be able to co-collect some waste streams by default meaning that they will no longer need to collect 7 separate streams.”
“These common-sense changes will not lead to the proliferation of bins but will ensure the same set of materials are collected everywhere in England.”