SOUTH Gloucestershire Council has decided to reintroduce recycling bags for kerbside collections, six years after scrapping them in favour of boxes.
Residents will be able to choose whether to carry on using their existing boxes or switch to the new bags for plastics, cans and foil.
Details of the change were revealed in a report to the council’s scrutiny commission, which said the 2019 decision to stop providing bags was “unpopular with many residents”.
But opposition Conservatives branded it a “retrograde step” and said the bags were unpopular with recycling crews, who find them hard to deal with.
Homes across the district are given boxes by the council to separate their recycling into for collection – but they aren’t supplied with lids.
This means that on windy days rubbish – particularly plastics – can be blown across the streets.
The new bags are likely to be delivered next year, at the same time as the council begins collecting soft plastics from all households in the district.
They can be sealed at the top and will also be weighted, to prevent them blowing away when empty.
Move away from bags was ‘unpopular’
The report said: “Most residents do not stack recycling boxes to prevent lightweight plastic, cans and foil from escaping during windy weather. Litter escaping from boxes is a common complaint from residents.
“The original decision to stop providing recycling bags was unpopular with many residents and may have impacted on their engagement with using boxes and properly separating their recycling.
“The cost of purchasing boxes has significantly increased in recent years, to more than double the cost of recycling bags.”
Before 2017, recycling was collected every two weeks and residents were given three reusable recycling bags, with a box for glass. In 2019, the council stopped supplying bags and told residents to use boxes for all recyclables.
Boxes are easier and safer for binmen to use, the report said, but many residents don’t correctly separate their recycling.
If the wrong items are mixed, the council receives less money when they are recycled and bin rounds take longer as crews try to pick out things that have been put in the wrong box.
The report said it will not be “mandatory” for residents to switch to bags if they want to carry on using boxes.
It also noted that the previous generation of plastic recycling bags deteriorated or blew away, and needed to be replaced every year or so.
A small trial found that residents believed the bags reduced the amount of rubbish that blew away.
One option not mentioned in the report was providing lids for existing boxes, as happens in Bristol.
Cabinet member for communities Sean Rhodes (Lab, Kingswood) told the council’s scrutiny commission: “Rather than having a lid on them, they have a seal so it squeezes together like a crisp packet and it gives a much better seal and it’s far less likely to topple over and open up.”
Cllr Rhodes said the bags had a capacity of 90 litres, compared with just 55 litres for boxes.
He said: “It’s an optional addition, it comes with additional volume, it comes with a stronger seal, there is a lot to be said for this.
“The feedback from the operatives is positive.”
‘Retrograde step’
Cllr Paul Hughes (Con, Bitton & Oldland Common) said bin crews had told him they did not like the bags.
He said: “They say they’re quite hard to deal with. From an operative point of view, it’s a retrograde step.”
Cllr Rhodes said staff feedback from the trial was “positive” towards bags, despite Cllr Hughes’ “anecdotal” reports.
Cllr Hughes said: “It seems rather strange that we’re shipping the [bags] from wherever in the world, and that misunderstands the whole idea of carbon reduction.
“We’re hell-bent in this council to get to carbon neutral and I can’t understand the carbon cost of things being shipped.”
Council project lead Bethan King said: “Unfortunately we are subject to the market that’s available and it is all abroad for manufacturing.
“If it was to be from the UK it would triple the cost and probably a bit more.
“We haven’t worked out the impact that has but we know that improving recycling rates will reduce the tonnages that go to our energy from waste facilities to get burned.”
Council business strategy manager Keirsten Wilson said introducing the bags will mean more will be recycled by decreasing the amount of recyclable waste being put incorrectly into black bins.
She said: “We are not suggesting we replace the box with a bag, it’s an optional extra.
“So residents who are happy stacking their boxes do not need to use these bags.”
Cllr Jon Lean (Lib Dem, Frampton Cotterell) said: “It gives residents a choice, and giving residents a choice is a really good thing.”
By Alex Seabrook and Adam Postans, Local Democracy Reporting Service
Top picture: Recycling bags were supplied for plastic, metal, cardboard and paper until 2019