Residents in West Lindsey will get a new purple-lidded bin for clean paper and card collections in the next few weeks.
The move is part of a countywide mission to offer separate paper and card collections across the whole of Lincolnshire by 2024.
West Lindsey is the third local authority to roll out a new twin stream recycling collection, following Boston Borough Council and North Kesteven District Council.
Deliveries of the new bins are expected to take place between Monday 7 March and Friday 1 April 2022. The first collection is due to take place in the district during the April Bank holiday.
Householder packs, which include details of the new scheme and a handy guide on what can and cannot be recycled, will be sent to homes throughout February. This is in addition to the bin calendars which were sent out last month to households. They are colour coded to show which bin should be presented each week.
Residents currently put their paper and cardboard in their blue recycling bin, but because it is mixed with other materials (plastic, glass and metals) it often gets contaminated, reducing how effectively it can be recycled.
Leader of West Lindsey District Council, Cllr Owen Bierley said: “We know that the introduction of a new recycling bin will be a change for our local residents but I hope it is a change that everyone will embrace. We launched our new Environment, Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy last year and so we know we need to take action now to look after our environment. This twin recycling scheme gives residents an opportunity to recycle better quality products.”
The Council is taking the opportunity with the roll out, to clean up what materials go into the blue bins to maximise the quality of recycling materials across the whole district.
Cllr Bierley added: “We are here to help our residents put the right thing in the right bin and break down some of the myths about what can be recycled locally.
We have been promoting what items can go in the blue bins ahead of the new purple lidded bin roll out which has been welcomed by some residents already who genuinely didn’t know about some items. We want our residents to know that they are not on their own and we have a dedicated team available to offer advice and support during the roll out of the scheme.”
Cllr Daniel McNally, executive member for waste at Lincolnshire County Council, said:
“We’ve successfully rolled out the separate paper and card bins in Boston and North Kesteven, and now we’re looking forward to working with West Lindsey to bring the purple bins to the district.
“Separating out our paper and card means we can improve the overall quality of our recycling. And, by sending it directly to a specialist processor in the UK, we’re cutting the road miles it travels and reducing carbon emissions.”
As previously reported the blue recycling bin will be collected four weekly, rather than the current fortnightly. A new, purple-lidded bin for paper and card would be collected in the alternate fortnight. There are no current proposals to change any collection days.
It is important that everyone helps our environment by reducing the amount of waste produce. This includes reusing items where possible, as well as donating unwanted goods to charity.
Did you know?
Over 12.5 million tonnes of paper and cardboard are used in the UK each year. This accounts for 20% of all household waste produced in the UK, with the average family throwing away around 6 trees worth of paper every year. If every person in the country recycled just 10% more paper it would save approximately 5 million trees each year.
For more information please visit: www.west-lindsey.gov.uk/recycling
Collection details can also be found on our website at www.west-lindsey.gov.uk/mybinday.