Thousands of homes in South Gloucestershire have been selected to take part in a national recycling trial. If successful, it could enforce changes to household waste collection that would then be rolled out across England.
The pilot scheme will see the curbside collection of plastic bags and wrapping from 2,000 households as part of the normal weekly recycling. Plastics such as bags, confectionary wrappers, foil-lined packaging, plastic film and more will be accepted in the first year of a potential three-year trial.
Collections will begin from October 17 within the South Gloucestershire Council local authority, with selected households from parts of Bradley Stoke, Chipping Sodbury and Olveston taking part. The number of homes invovled will be expanded in 2023 if successful, rolling out to all households in the district by 2025.
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South Gloucestershire Cabinet Member with responsibility for Waste Services, Councillor Rachael Hunt, said: “We’re delighted to be a part of this trial. When we declared a Climate Emergency, we said we wanted to play our part and take meaningful steps to reduce our environmental impact and protect the world around us. People in South Gloucestershire are fully engaged with recycling, which puts us in a great position to be a part of this pioneering work.
“Working alongside our residents, we have a great recycling rate; we are the fifth council of our kind in the country when it comes to recycling, performing well above the national average. We have a comprehensive, great value recycling collection service already, which makes the materials we collect easily recyclable and better able to be used to make new products and avoid sending unnecessary waste to landfill.
“Recycling is a simple way for everyone to take action to reduce carbon emissions and help us reach our climate emergency declaration target of net zero by 2030. This trial will help us understand how we can collect more with our current recycling service and what is needed to expand the service.”
Thornbury and Yate MP Luke Hall added: “It is fantastic news that South Gloucestershire will be part of this national trial to collect plastic bags and wrapping from the kerbside, which will increase access to recycling and reduce the amount of waste going to landfill. Delivering plastic bag and wrapping recycling is a key part of our Positive Plan for the Environment in South Gloucestershire and I want to thank everyone who has supported this initiative.”
South Gloucestershire Council was chosen following a selection process against a range of criteria to demonstrate its suitability for the project. The initial trial will include a variety of family sizes and housing types, and those selected to take part will be sent information on how to use the service along with collection bags before the new plastic bags and wrapping collection launches.
The most convenient way to recycle plastic bags and wrapping is currently at supermarket collection points. This trial will help to inform the Government and the industry about how plastic bags and wrapping should be added to existing household recycling collection services ahead of its introduction to consistent collections for all England households in 2027.
SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK, which manages household waste collection services on behalf of the council, are working in partnership with leading industry organisations WRAP, RECOUP and Ecosurety to oversee the operation of the trial and arrange for the plastics to be recycled.
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