Residents react to four bin plan

In line with its drive to improve recycling rates, the council’s executive board has recommended that the authority brings in a purple-lidded bin solely for paper and card, so that it can be kept clean and dry, separate from the glass and plastic in the green lidded bins which can sometimes be wet and make the paper soggy, contaminated and unusable.

The recommendation will go forward to Full Council on July 15, if approved the bins would be first collected on September 27.

A fourth bin was trialled in 2019 by parts of three district council areas to meet UK recycling targets of 55 per cent by 2025.

All properties will be provided with a purple lidded bin, funded by the county council, for paper and card collected alternately with the green-lidded bin on a fortnightly basis.

Dominic Henderson, along with others, welcomed it saying: “Can’t wait, our recycling fills ups so fast then we have to put it into the black bin, maybe they can reduce the recycling bin size. The bulk of our waste is paper and card.”

However Daina Snorniece said: “Even if you got the room, the idea that the green bin will be emptied every four weeks is bonkers. The bin already is sometimes not big enough and paper does not take half of current recycling we are doing.”

Pamela Rowles said she did not have room and a bin full of newspapers would be too heavy: “We are always being advised to cut down on our use of plastic, so why the heck are local government foisting even more of the stuff on us?”