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

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

TRASHY: A communal recycling bin TRASHY: A communal recycling bin

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?

Comments(11)

Lady Smith says...
12:27pm Wed 16 May 12

Excellent idea! The city has consistenly failed to meet is recycling targets, so this is a step in the right direction and no-one should have a problem with it. Cue, some idiot comments, I expect...

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Hove Actually says...
12:38pm Wed 16 May 12

So our green council think 45 recycling bins are needed against 65 rubbish bins...........

I would have thought it would have been "greener" to be the other way round, or am I being silly?

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PorkBoat says...
1:34pm Wed 16 May 12

The council are trying to get £800,000 funding from the government from this? But they've just agreed to give £14 million of council tax payer's money to a private company for the Brighton pie. Do they employ any accountants or book-keepers at the council?

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Bubs says...
1:47pm Wed 16 May 12

It might help recycling rates if businesses are encouraged to recycle. As a business owner I have to pay for waste collection, and I have to pay again for a recycling bin. If I put everything in the waste bin and recycle nothing it works out cheaper for me. I feel morally obliged to have 2 waste streams, and pay for recycling AND a normal bin, but maybe not everyone does. Restaurants and take aways generate a huge amount of waste and it is my understanding that the council does not include them in the recycling targets. So people would be forgiven for thinking what's the point of putting my two wine bottles and an empty bean can in the recycling when the bar across the road puts all their bottles in the bin.

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Grumpyguy says...
2:22pm Wed 16 May 12

A reduction in the size of the bins would be welcome. One of the present monstrosities is parked outside my (historical) parish church. Some decoration. However, my fundamental objection to these bins stands. I pay council tax, and so why should I have to carry bags to these bins rather than have them collected from my door? To be blunt, I am not a refuse disposal operative.

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Maxwell's Ghost says...
3:36pm Wed 16 May 12

Ladysmith, part of the reason why the council fails its recycling target is the refusal by Cityclean staff to collect any boxes it does not like the look of, or any recycling placed in bags or next to the recycling boxes, even when folded neatly.
In fact, I was visiting an elderly relative in Ladysmith the other day who was complaining about a pile of cardboard which was left in the street for weeks as the council refuses to take it, even though the resident had packed it up nicely.
Every other council will take stuff.
Also, if you put boxes out which are sorted and someone walks by and dumps a beer bottle in your box, the council refuse to take it and stick that silly 'ouch' tape over the 'contaminated' box.
Therefore, people who were keen recyclers get angered and so stop recycling.
It's also darned galling to recycle and keep your wheelie bin tidy and bring it off the street when my street is absolutely disgraceful with bags of waste ripped open as the student houses are issued with one bin and most don't recycle.
Take a walk down Coombe Road or the nearby streets.
On rubbish day the place looks like the great rubbish strike of the 1970s.
Not one of the city councillors does anything about it. Three Labour councillors without an ounce of interest in sorting it out.
None of these dirty tenants receive warnings about dumping bags of waste on the streets yet decent residents get stupid tape put on their bins.
If you are serious about recycling, sort out the domestic service.
These big bins will just get filled with matresses and old furniture not genuine recyclables.

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SGK2000 says...
4:20pm Wed 16 May 12

There's some pretty tall people about but what constitutes a Giant and should they be worried?

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tinker000 says...
4:57pm Wed 16 May 12

MORE PARKING PLACES GONE , Stay away from this town

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boblat says...
9:28pm Wed 16 May 12

And NO MORE dirty bins all over the pavements??

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Maxwell's Ghost says...
11:00pm Wed 16 May 12

The recycling service is shockingly poor in a Green run town and it's probably time to split Cityclean into refuse and recycling and outsource the recycling side of the service.
Get the militant binmen to mess about with wheelie bins which just involves pushing a plastic bin to the back of the lorry and hire a private contractor to roll out a better recycling service where they will pick up bags of cardboard or bags of bottles as they do in every other town.
Stop penalising decent residents who are recycling and start penalising the dirty students who dump plastic bags of rubbish outisde their homes and when it gets ripped open, they walk past it for days.
Perhaps we should all take photos and send them to The Argus.
The city shame which leaves the Greens red faced.

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hamishhove says...
5:33pm Fri 18 May 12

I live in Brunswick and I for one am glad not to be tripping over the dreaded black boxes when i go to work when its dark, i have had people put their dog poo in mine and its not pleasant. The information on here is incorrect, there are over 70 recycling bins, far more than rubbish. The council listened to us which for me was a pleasant surprise, so i am not too proud to say excellent, great work for a job well done. It would be interesting to hear what the extra recycling saves in not going to landfill. Well done

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