Launch of new recycling bins

Having formally declared a climate emergency, Northumberland County Council is progressing a number of schemes aimed at reducing carbon emissions, improving recycling rates and making the county cleaner and greener.

The initial eye-catching bins, designed to encourage passers-by to recycle plastic bottles and cans that would otherwise end up in general waste, are joint partnerships with Morpeth and Newbiggin by the Sea Town Councils.

A study in Leeds, which ran a similar bin scheme, estimated that the proportion of people putting their drinks containers in a recycling bin rose from 17 per cent to 32 per cent in six months.

The bins in Morpeth are located by the large car park near Sanderson Arcade and near the leisure centre, areas where there are a lot of people passing.

Coun Glen Sanderson, cabinet member for environment and local services, said: “We all need to do what we can for the environment and this is an excellent initiative to help boost recycling.

“It’s very important that people put only plastic bottles and cans in these bins, which are clearly marked, to enable us to recycle as much as possible.

“We’ll be able to measure how many bottles and cans are being recycled to study how effectively the trial is working.

“Based on these results, we’re hoping to roll out more bins in other parts of the county in the near future.”

Residents are being encouraged to use other general waste bins for disposing of anything other than plastic bottles and cans.

Even low levels of contamination in these recycling bins could lead to the contents of the whole bin being treated as waste rather than recycling.

David Bawn, chairman of Morpeth Town Council’s Finance and General Purposes Committee, said: “I would call upon all residents to make use of these bins in the correct way to make sure this trial is a success.

“We can all do our bit to reduce our carbon footprint and increasing our recycling of these items will make a big difference over time.”