Ethiopian Review

The streets of a Lancashire city could soon be graced with yet another rubbish bin.
In addition to the grey and brown wheelie bins, Town Hall chiefs in Preston are considering replacing the blue recycling boxes with blue bins.

They would be smaller than the grey and brown bins, able to hold 120 or 140 litres rather than 240 litres.

Adrian Phillips, assistant director of neighbourhood services at Preston Council, said the blue boxes were “less than ideal”.

He said: “The issues will be around the investment.

“We’re costing up the various options at the moment and it will require a significant investment and most councils can only afford to introduce that on a phased basis.

“Some people would not want to accommodate additional wheelie bins.”

Coun Peter Rankin, a member of the council’s environment review panel, said the blue boxes, which were introduced in 1996, were a “terrible problem”.

He said: “They’re full to over-flowing, then there’s a bit of wind and the stuff blows all over the place.

“They’re cracked and they’re an eyesore.

“We could take enforcement action against our council for using those boxes.”

If blue bins are introduced, the recyclables would need to be sorted mechanically rather than by hand as they currently are.

Mr Phillips said it was a “medium-term” idea which would be discussed by councillors in the next few months.

He said: “Until we have the capacity to mix materials and for them to be sorted at a facility, we will continue to use the blue boxes but we do know, on a windy day, it does cause some problems.

“We only ever saw blue boxes as an interim solution to increase recycling.”

In Chorley, householders already have blue bins for plastics, cans and glass. This includes a black inner pod for paper.

They also have green and brown wheelie bins, plus a green box for cardboard and a red bag for textiles.

By Emma Broom | lep