Public opinion has been a real driver behind the introduction of the brown bin service. But there are all kinds of reasons why the brown bin scheme is not currently available to every resident in the borough
A pilot project of 13,000 properties began in February 2008. This was to help us measure the demand for kerbside recycling and the resources needed to carry it out.
Feedback indicated that, overall, residents supported the scheme. Some people felt that the brown bin was too big so a half size bin was introduced as an option.
Planning began almost at the same time of the trial to expand the scheme. However, one issue that emerged was that demand for wheelie bins across Europe outstripped supply. This led to long production times and uncertainty over deliveries. We spent a long time ensuring that our bin orders were deliverable.
Another issue was ensuring adequate funding to expand the scheme. All councils have tough decisions to make on how to spend their budget. To give brown bins to everyone at the same time would cost over £2.5 million in bins alone. To reduce this impact, we made a commitment that everyone would receive a brown bin by the end of 2010.
The first phase of the roll-out began in February 2009 with 85,000 properties receiving a brown bin – a demanding logistical exercise involving crews working long hours over four months to deliver the bins on schedule. It is vital that we make sure the rounds are working as effectively and efficiently at each stage of the roll-out, before going on to the next area.
The same process (taking onboard what we have learned) will be repeated to reach the remaining properties from April next year.
We understand the frustrations of some residents – although we hope that they will at least appreciate the reasons for staggered roll-out.
In the future we're looking at improving the paper scheme by introducing a wheeled bin and including more materials such as food packaging cardboard and tetrapak.
Food waste collections will also be introduced in the future to maximise the diversion of waste from landfill. With all present and future schemes we will be looking for suggestions and constructive feedback from everyone who uses our services.
