Wheelie bins are not going to shrink

Wigan Council has no plans to introduce the type of smaller wheelie bin that is causing anger in a neighbouring borough.
Slimline wheelie binSlimline wheelie bin
Slimline wheelie bin

Some residents in Bolton have complained that the new slimline containers their local authority began rolling out last summer in a bid to get folk to recycle more are simply not big enough - especially when they serve family homes.

Bolton decided on the move because bosses concluded that, despite giving households several bins in which to deposit different waste types, many were just putting almost everything in the non-recyclables bin. This put it in danger of missing recycling targets and being hit with large landfill taxes.

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In Wigan most homes now have four wheelie bins: one for non-reyclables, another for paper and card, another for food and garden waste and another for glass and plastic. Some residents already have smaller versions because the residents don’t produce much rubbish and the containers are easier to manoeuvre.

Earlier this year the Wigan Evening Post revealed that after years of improved recycling figures, there had been a reversal in the last couple of years.

But at the moment, trying to get people to push that trend upwards does not involve replacing the standard non-recyclable black bins with shrunken down versions, at an estimated cost of £5m (if each bin for all 100,000 households costs £50).

Karl Battersby, director of economy and environment, said: “There are no plans to move to slim line bins and no changes currently planned to our collections. One of our top priorities is to get residents recycling more and recycling right. If they do this we can keep council tax low and we remain committed to increasing our recycling rates as part of The Deal.”