North Somerset Council Recycling Bag Trial
Recycling bag trial
We are trialling a new recycling bag with around 6,000 households. They will be given a new, reusable red bag for recycling:
household plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays
metal packaging such as tins, cans, foil and aerosols
Households that take part will use this new bag - as well as their existing recycling boxes - to recycle as much as they can.
The existing green and black recycling boxes will be used to separate cardboard and paper from glass items.
The bags are being delivered over a two week period from 11 November to 22 November. Residents on the trial will be able to use their red bag as soon as it arrives.
The aim of the trial
The aim of this trial is to make recycling easier for residents and our collection crews. We want to:
provide trial households with extra space for more recycling
provide trial households with a simpler way to recycle without the need to sort different materials in the same box
see if it improves the quality of the recycling we collect
see if it speeds up collections
Reasons for the trial
There are a variety of reasons why we are conducting this trial:
Feedback in our recent consultation
People that responded to our recent waste consultation told us:
they would like more space for recycling
they would like sorting recycling to be simpler
litter as a result of open recycling boxes is a concern
The bags will have a velcro closing top design to keep the plastic and metal packaging inside. The bag also has a weighted bottom to stop it from blowing around.
Better quality recycling can be sold for more money
Recycling that is well-sorted is higher quality and can be sold for more money. This helps cover the cost of collections and generates an income to fund vital local services.
We also hope that splitting cardboard and paper from glass (using the existing recycling boxes) will prevent them accidently getting mixed together. The glass currently causes damage to the machine which we use to bail the paper and cardboard into big cubes ready to be sold for recycling.
The cost of recycling boxes has increased
The cost of recycling boxes has increased significantly over recent years. We are also experiencing high demand for replacement boxes as they are not very robust.
In other local authorities bags have been shown to provide a good solution for the storage and collection of recycling. They are cheaper than recycling boxes and take up less room than boxes. This can provide a solution for households who already have limited space for their recycling.
To reduce congestion
Faster recycling collections are more efficient and help to reduce congestion in busy areas caused by recycling lorries on their rounds.
How we will monitor the trial
We will monitor the time it takes to collect recycling and assess the quality of the recycling coming into the depot from trial roads. We will ask crews for their feedback and also ask residents taking part in the trial for their feedback in early 2025.
If the trial is successful
If the recycling bag trial is successful, we will introduce the bag alongside three-weekly waste collections in 2025.
Trial areas
Areas that had higher amounts of black bin waste and less recycling were chosen to take part in the trial. The six areas are:
Failand
Leigh Woods
Long Ashton
Portbury
Portishead
parts of Weston-super-Mare
The roads that will take part in these areas are listed on this page. Some of the roads are very long. Not all properties on the roads mentioned in this list will be part of the trial.
To see list of addresses please go to: https://n-somerset.gov.uk/my-services/bins-recycling/recycling-bag-trial
