Councils to ‘shrink wheelie bin sizes’

Author: Daily Telegraph   |  

The Waste Improvement Network has suggested a series of recycling measures including cutting wheelie bin sizes by more than 40 per cent, with standard 250-litre bins being replaced with 140-litre sizes.

It also suggests councils move to fortnightly collections and refuse to collect overfilled bins, even if lids are lifted by a few millimetres.

Latest figures show that 166 councils in England have stopped weekly bin collections, up from 140 in April 2007.

Ministers claim cuts are needed to meet the EU’s tough recycling target.

But recent reports suggest recycled items in Britain may end up in landfill because they are not selling.

The Campaign for Real Recycling recently suggested that the system of collection used by some councils led to material of such poor quality that they would have to stockpile it in warehouses or send it to landfill.

Shadow Local Government Secretary Caroline Spelman has accused the Government of “bullying” councils into cutting services.

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