The harbourside will be fitted with permanent recycling bins from today (Wednesday, June 14). Bristol Waste has announced that, for the first time, visitors to Bristol's harbourside will be able to recycle their litter on the go, in brand new bins adorned with images of otters.
The bright, colourful bins featuring the image of the otters who have made Bristol Harbour their home, will begin to appear today, as part of Bristol Wate's new 'on-the-go' recycling initiative #InTheLoop. The scheme aims to make it easy for both residents and visitors to recycle empty glass, plastic bottles and cans, improving recycling rates and protecting local wildlife.
The initiative is a partnership between Bristol Waste and environmental charity Hubbub, supported by Bristol City Council and with funding from the 'In The Loop fund'. Twenty-four new recycling bins, including solar-powered bins, will be positioned strategically across Castle Park and all around the harbour.
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Sarah Burns, innovation and sustainability manager, said: “Keeping the city clean, and encouraging better recycling is at the heart of what we do at Bristol Waste. This funding has allowed us to bring on-the-go recycling right into the beating heart of Bristol.
"The harbourside is home to so many wonderful attractions, businesses and homes – and even otters! It’s no wonder it is so popular, but with people on the streets comes litter.
"These bins will change the way we manage our waste when we are out of the home, helping more items to be recycled, and keeping valuable materials In The Loop.”
And it appears this new scheme has come just in time for residents in the area, who have felt frustrated by the amount of rubbish building up around the water's edge. Locals living by the harbour say that the public bins here are becoming overflowing with rubbish, as they claim 'the council doesn't empty them often enough'.
Describing how the bins are usually only emptied after a busy weekend, where partygoers and tourists have filled them to the brim, they've asked Bristol City Council to provide more bins or empty them more frequently. One such local resident is Julie Rodman, who lives by the harbour and says she is "furious that every weekend the public bins are not emptied and litter is strewn everywhere by seagulls, ending up in the water".
She adds: "It's been going on for years. They get full every weekend because they aren't emptied until Monday, which I think is ridiculous because with tourists and party goers, the weekend is the busiest time."
Bristol Live has approached Bristol City Council for comment.
The new recycling scheme will be launched at 11am on June 14, outside the Cottage Inn, where a land and water community litter pick will be taking place. It will also include project lead, Kye Dudd, cabinet minister for waste, as well as Bristol TS Adventure Sea Cadets, Clean Up Bristol Harbour, Hubbub, Sustainable Hive and Bristol Avon Rivers Trust.
The new bins will collect empty glass, plastic bottles and cans, so these valuable materials can be kept #InTheLoop and made into something new instead of going to waste. Bristol was one of four areas chosen by The Coca-Cola Foundation for In The Loop grant funding to introduce or improve their recycling points in areas that include waterways, such as coastline, riverways, canals, docks or wetlands.
All four winning projects involve the roll out of bright, colourful and eye-catching bins, targeted messaging and local partnerships to encourage positive behaviour change, with a particular focus on reducing the level of rubbish reaching destinations downstream of the waterways where the campaigns are taking place. To keep contamination to a minimum, people are being urged to put items like coffee cups, takeaway boxes and crisp packets in the ‘Rubbish’ section of the new bins.
Bristol Waste are encouraging people to think “if in doubt, leave it out”. Kye Dudd, Cabinet Member for Climate, Ecology, Waste and Energy, said: “As the number one core city for recycling, Bristol is primed and ready to take the challenge of recycling out of people’s homes and on to the streets.
"Bringing on-the-go recycling to central Bristol has been an ambition of the council for a while and we are delighted to see these new bins arrive today. It is now up to the residents and visitors to prove they are 'otterly' great at recycling by using the colourful bins!
"We have aspirations to bring on-the-go recycling to other areas of the city. This project is a brilliant first step on that journey, and will offer valuable insights in to how we make bring recycling bins to other areas of the city and inspire residents to get involved.”
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