Features

Waste on Wheels

L1210473-2©Geoff Wilkinson

The wheelie bin roll-out begins in Wanstead this month. The scheme will keep our streets cleaner and encourage more recycling, says Councillor Jo Blackman, Cabinet Member for Environment and Civic Pride

Some Wanstead residents may already be familiar with Redbridge Council’s new wheelie bins through a pilot of 7,000 households across the borough last year, which included some streets in Wanstead.

The pilot was a success, with results showing that 75% of participants noticed less rubbish spilt around their property on collection day, helping to improve the surrounding environment. Up to 67% of respondents found it easier to use wheelie bins than rubbish sacks. There was also a 13% reduction in household rubbish and an average of 4.2% increase in recycling in some areas.

Wheelie bins are now being rolled out across the borough and Wanstead residents who weren’t part of the pilot can expect their new bins to be delivered in March. All households that receive a kerbside rubbish and recycling collection service will be provided with one new, free, dark-grey 180-litre wheelie bin for the collection of their rubbish. This new bin will replace the current rubbish sack collection and residents should place their rubbish sacks in the new bin. Your rubbish and recycling collection days will remain the same and you can start to use the new bin straight away.

The wheelie bins should keep our streets cleaner by allowing residents to store and contain rubbish securely, helping prevent animals from ripping sacks, reducing split sacks on collection days and, ultimately, reducing littering and clean-up costs. Wheelie bins are also intended to encourage residents to recycle more to maximise space in their bin, and reduce the volume of waste thrown away. To make the service as effective as possible, we want residents to use the bin provided, but we also understand some households may need an alternative size – smaller and larger bins can be requested by completing a form on the council’s website.

Privately owned wheelie bins and dustbins cannot be emptied as part of the new service. Rubbish will only be collected from Redbridge-issued wheelie bins. We want to be fair to all residents, so we want everyone to use the same size container. Also, our collection vehicles may not work properly or safely with other bins. So, we will be providing details of a bin amnesty, giving residents the chance to have privately owned wheelie bins disposed of free of charge. Cylindrical-style dustbins cannot be collected as part of this amnesty. These can be taken to Chigwell Road Recycling and Reuse Centre.

Redbridge currently disposes of around 22m rubbish sacks each year, which costs £18m. We also collect the fifth-highest amount of rubbish in England. Wheelie bins will increase the efficiency of collections, helping to save money that could be spent on other services like schools and social care.

For more information and to request a different size bin or to take part in the bin amnesty, visit wnstd.com/bins