One part of Merseyside is set to see a major change in the way household recycling is done.
St Helens Borough Council approved the changes as part of a resources and waste strategy meeting last week. The changes, which are to be brought in later this year, will see every household receiving a new set of recycling bags.
With the current setup, a combination of bags and solid recycling containers/boxes are used for household recycling. These include black, grey and green boxes, as well as pink and white bags for some items.
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The changes will include a new blue bag for paper, a white bag for cans and plastics, and a new green bag for card recycling. Solid containers will now only be used for glass bottles and jars. There will be no change to the existing food caddy waste system.
The decision to move to more bags rather than solid boxes for recycling has annoyed some.
Concerns have been raised by residents over the bags used for recycling blowing away in the wind and causing potential hazards in the road.
Steph Lunt was among the residents to share her concerns on Facebook. She said: "Complete waste of time, bags and boxes blow all over the road where I live off Borough Rd and are a hazard on the blind corner at the top with heavy traffic.
"Keep advising but no one listens. We can’t use them- this means hardly anyone bothers even though we want to recycle."
Alison Christine said: "Nobody wants bags they just blow over streets anyway. I cant see any improvement in current options with this idea just more bags."
Despite these concerns, the council claims the new strategy will help "mitigate the impacts of climate change and help us meet our ambitious target to be net zero carbon by 2040".
Collections dates for the borough will also be changed in November 2023. A statement on the council website said: "The change to collection days will make our collection rounds more efficient and help us reduce vehicle movements, reducing carbon emissions. It will also support growing collection areas in future years."
Councillor Andy Bowden, St Helens Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, said:
“In enhancing our existing waste collection service we have listened to feedback from residents; the majority of which remain satisfied with our current kerbside collection methodology. In developing the strategy we are committed to increasing levels of recycling across the borough, improving the environment, and reducing the costs of waste collection and disposal. We must also ensure that our service meets the requirements of emerging new national legislation. All of these factors were considered in the decision-making process.
“We’d encourage residents to view our easy-to-read Resources and Waste Strategy to find out more about the review and decisions behind it, and check out our comprehensive list of FAQs about the changes coming to recycling collections, at www.sthelens.gov.uk/recycling.”
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