Recycling change will see glass in council blue bins

Recycling change will see glass in council blue bins

30 January 2019

RATEPAYERS in the former Down Council area will be able to put glass in their blue recycling bins within the next few months.

Senior council officials hope the new collection system will go live in April and have confirmed that tenders to provide the new service are currently being evaluated.

Currently, residents in the former Newry and Mourne Council area are able to place glass in their blue recycling bins, but their counterparts in the former Down Council are not.

One of the reasons given for separate recycling collection systems in the legacy council areas was that the waste was handled by two different contractors. 

Under the new system, a contract will be awarded for all recycled material generated across the district, including glass which homeowners will be able to place in their blue recycling bins.

By 2020, the local authority must recycle 50% of its waste, with senior officials confident the organisation will be able to meet this target when the new glass collection service is rolled out across the district in the near future.

Council officials say removing an estimated 4,500 tonnes of glass from black bins in the former Down Council area will help meet its recycling target. 

There is also speculation that consideration is being given to potentially emptying black household bins every three weeks in the future. They are currently emptied once a fortnight.

Last year, local politicians endorsed the recommendation of an independent consultant to abort plans to spend money on new glass holders which would be placed in blue bins and emptied separately from the rest of the waste by specially designed bin lorries.

A major review of various options on the way forward for the collection of waste glass demonstrated that allowing it to be placed in blue bins alongside other suitable recycling material was the most cost effective way forward.

Ratepayers in the Down area will continue to place glass in black bins until April with council officials insisting bottle banks which are dotted across the district will remain in place, arguing they are ostensibly used by commercial businesses.

Council officials say that as the new collection system is rolled out costs will be incurred to raise awareness amongst ratepayers through communication and advertising to ensure the correct materials are placed in bins. 

They insist while other costs will arise as officials review and implement changes to collection schedules, these can be off-set by savings in disposal costs, 

with the new blue bin scheme funded from within existing budgets.

New bin lorries are to be purchased over the next four years as part of a significant investment to replace an ageing fleet and help reduce the number of breakdowns.