AN established recycling scheme in Craven is set to change after councillors agreed new proposals.

Members of the Policy Committee approved the introduction of a co-mingled collection of glass, metals, plastics and paper at a meeting on Tuesday.

Currently the majority of residents collect cans, plastic and glass in a blue bin or pod, and use a blue bag to collect paper and card.

But if full council approve the new proposals on January 31, all recycling items will be collected together in the blue bin from April 2017, removing the need for a blue bag.

Paul Ellis, Director of Services at Craven District Council, said: “The value the council receives for the sale of the recycling material it collects has fallen significantly and this prompted the council to review its current collection arrangements. We have also listened to residents who told us the blue bags are unpopular.

“We held a consultation on the proposals to move to a full co-mingled collection, and the vast majority of those responding had no objections to the introduction of a co-mingled collection service.

“We also carried out technical, environmental and economic assessments and found that a co-mingled system will be better economically and environmentally.

“The new system means the collection methodology will be simplified, and removes the need for us to distribute and collect blue bags.

“The government has set a target that all local authorities are to achieve 50 per cent recycling by 2020. This new methodology will help us to reach this target. We believe the easier arrangements will lead to an increase in recycling.”

Under the new proposal, all recyclates – paper, cans, plastic, glass and card – will be collected fortnightly on the same day in the same container. 

Residual household waste will still be collected fortnightly in the green wheeled bin, on alternate weeks to the recycling collection.
It is projected that revenue savings of £110,000 per year will be generated by adopting the new system.

Leaflets will be sent out to all households informing them of the changes to the recycling arrangements, along with public notices, press releases, social media, bin stickers and messages on the council website.