Home / Environment / Council Spends £350,000 on Bin Lid Overhaul to Avoid Confusion
Council Spends £350,000 on Bin Lid Overhaul to Avoid Confusion
6 Oct
Summary
- Council to change garden bin lids to brown to avoid confusion with new paper/card bins
- Opposition councillor calls the proposal "nonsense" and a "waste" of money
- Council aims to increase recycling rates to 60% by 2030 and 65% by 2035
In a move to improve recycling efforts, the East Suffolk Council is planning to spend £350,000 to change the lids on garden waste bins. The council is introducing new wheelie bins or containers for paper and card next year, which will be grey with green lids. However, the council is concerned these new bins could be confused with the existing all-green garden bins.
To avoid this potential confusion, the council is proposing to change the lids on the garden bins to brown. This proposal has faced criticism from opposition councillor James Mallinder, who has described it as "nonsense" and a "waste" of money. Mallinder believes the money could be better spent making the recycling process simpler for households.
The council, however, maintains that the lid change is the "most cost-effective way" to standardize bin colors across the region, where collections and colors will eventually be standardized. The council is under pressure to increase recycling rates, with a target of 60% by 2030 and 65% by 2035. To help achieve this, the council has also recently moved to a three-weekly general waste collection to reduce carbon emissions.
