Bexley Plans to Ditch Recycling Boxes for Wheelie Bins

Bexley Plans to Ditch Recycling Boxes for Wheelie Bins

Bexley is London’s best performing borough for recycling, and it plans to cut £450,000 per year from the cost of its waste service by moving to wheelie bins instead of recycling boxes and cutting down on the frequency of its collections.

This comes after the council had already decided not to switch to three-weekly rubbish collections after speaking to residents who were strongly opposed to the proposals.

The new proposals involve switching from three recycling boxes to two wheelie bins to collect recycling, and for recycling collections to be reduced to every other week instead of weekly. If the proposals are approved, the changes will be introduced in the summer.

At the moment, the council collects food waste every week in a brown box, and paper and cardboard, plastic packaging, cartons and cans, and glass bottles and jars are collected weekly in a green box, maroon box, and a black box respectively.

Council needs to save money

If the new proposals are agreed, every household will receive two wheelie bins to replace the boxes, a blue-lidded bin for paper and cardboard, and a white-lidded bin for mixed recyclables.

The reason for the changes is that the council has saved money and balance its budget. It also wants to increase the amount of waste that is recycled.

A local councillor thanked people for their support and their recycling efforts that have made Bexley the best performing recycler in London for the past 14 years. He added that the council has listened to people and has given them the wheelie bins that they want.

Saving will be spent on local services

Bexley’s impressive recycling record, which hit the heights of 51% in 2017, saves taxpayers around £3.6 million per year when compared to how much it would cost to collect and incinerate rubbish instead. The estimated £450,000 saving which will be made if the changes are introduced will be spent on improving important local services.

If the council approves the changes, every household will be sent information about how services will change and a letter to ask them to choose which size wheelie bins they would prefer. The council is currently putting together an invitation to tender for the provision of new wheelie bins.