Results of recycling bins York council consultation

Almost two thirds, about 63.7 per cent, of the 13,000 people who responded to City of York Council’s consultation said switching to bins would make recycling easier for them.

But around 38.7 per cent said storage space could be an issue, with others raising concerns about how they would look on the street, capacity and moving them for collections.

A council report on the findings stated the amount of responses showed people felt strongly about the issue but there was no one size fits all solutions to concerns raised.

The consultation comes after the council first unveiled plans for recycling bins in February.

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It would see most York household’s existing recycling boxes replaced with two wheelie bins, one for paper and cardboard and another for glass, tins and plastics.

Each bin would be collected every four weeks on two-week alternating cycles.

The estimated cost of the changes is £2.8 million, including making and delivering the bins, versus savings of around £310,000-a-year.

Council officials said the changes would make collections more efficient, recycling easier for the elderly and disabled, reduce the risk of staff injuries and stop litter blowing off boxes.

The proposals also come as the council looks to save £520,000 from its waste collection services over the next two years.

York’s current recycling boxes could be ditched under council plans (Image: Supplied)

They also come ahead of requirements for soft plastics to be collected from kerbsides by March next year.

But concerns have previously been raised about changes to the frequency of collections and how they could affect people such as those in terraced houses who lack storage space.

The roughly 63.7 per cent of people who said the changes would make recycling easier for them compare to around 23.9 per cent who said they would make it harder.

Those who said they may do or were not sure accounted for about 12.5 per cent of respondents.

About 71.9 per cent of those surveyed said having wheelie bins would make it easier to recycle larger cardboard packaging such as boxes for TVs.

It compares to 18 per cent who said it would make it harder and about 10 per cent who did not know.

The visual impact of bins on the street was said to be a barrier to using wheelie bins by about 16.7 per cent of respondents.

About 8.8 per cent were concerned about capacity for the amount of waste they recycled while about 3.1 per cent said the distance to collection points was an issue.

More than half, about 55.1 per cent, said they saw no barriers to using wheelie bins.

The main challenges people said they faced with the current boxes was litter being left behind on the street following collections, according to almost 65.7 per cent of respondents.

Others included not having enough capacity, boxes breaking too easily, being too heavy, them getting wet due to the weather and a lack of storage space.

About three quarters of those who responded to the survey, about 75.9 per cent, lived in households with between two and four people.

Almost a fifth, about 19.5 per cent, were single households and almost 4.6 per cent lived in homes with five or more people.

The council’s report stated options for households concerned about space could be to offer them 180L or 140L bins, rather than the 240L currently proposed.

They added there was no substantial evidence to suggest that storing waste for longer would pose a fire risk, including due to antisocial behaviour.

Councillors are set to discuss the results of the consultation at the Place Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday, June 16.