Brighton and Hove council hopes to launch giant recycling bins across city (From The Argus)

Brighton and Hove council hopes to launch giant recycling bins across city

12:20pm Wednesday 16th May 2012 in News By Ben James

Brighton and Hove City Council is planning to introduce communal recycling bins for 26,000 households in the city centre.

The cabinet unanimously voted to submit a funding bid for £800,000 to the Government to pay for the extra bins – which are a third of the size of the current communal rubbish bins.

Officers say they are unsure how many they will look to buy, but said that the bins would service all areas that already use the 700 communal rubbish bins.

A trial of the scheme is currently taking place in the Brunswick and Adelaide ward, with the council reporting that it has been “extremely successful”.

The authority has put 45 communal recycling bins to go with the existing 65 communal rubbish bins across the area.

A council spokeswoman said: “Thinking ahead we have put in a bid to the Government for funding. We will work up the details once we know the outcome and start consulting on a possible scheme.”

A report into the plans estimates that the Government grant would cover any set-up costs as well as collection vehicles, consultation and the salary of an 18-month officer post dedicated to ensuring the smooth roll-out of the service.

In addition the increase in recycling is expected to generate savings.

The trial, which takes in 3,200 homes, has already seen recycling rise by 36%.

Although the proposal has cross-party support in theory, a number of concerns have been raised.

Labour group leader Councillor Gill Mitchell said: “I think we need to look carefully at the impact it will have on the street scene as well as parking.

“There are already waiting lists for permits in the city and this would make them even longer. The council must listen to residents and take what they say into account when making a decision.”

The leader of the Conservatives, Geoffrey Theobald, said: “This is something that we would have done if we were still in power, so we are very supportive of it.

“Obviously we would like the impact on parking spaces to be minimised but we are supportive.”

Although the exact number of bins is yet to be decided, it is expected that it will reach into the hundreds.

What do you think?