Households warned they will need up to 7 bins each as part of major rubbish collection shake-up

Households have been told they could need up to seven rubbish bins as part of government plans to nationalise waste collection. 

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Ministers are aiming to standardise rubbish collection so it operates the same throughout England by 2023/24 under the Environment Bill. 

The waste collection shake-up might see households requiring four separate bins for dry recyclables like glass, metal, plastic, paper and card - as well as bins for garden waste, food waste and non-recyclables.

But the District Councils’ Network (DCN), which represents 183 councils in England, has called the proposals “poorly thought out”.

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It warned some households may not have the space needed for the extra bins.

Proposals are ‘poorly thought out’

The DCN said extra collection vehicles could also increase road congestion and could cost as much as £680million each year.

The network is urging the government to let local councils and communities decide how they want their rubbish collected.

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Cllr Dan Humphreys, DCN’s lead member for enhancing quality of life said: “These proposals are poorly thought out and will create costly chaos and confusion up and down the country.

“Rather than standardise waste collections, local communities should be able to decide what works best for them.

“What works for residents in villages and rural areas won’t work for people living in flats in a busy town or city.

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“It is also wrong that those without gardens are contributing towards the costs of garden waste collections for those who do.”

‘Major reforms of kerbside collections’

A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs told The Mirror that where households may not be able to have as many as seven bins, local authorities may collect recyclable waste from two or more waste streams at the same time.

They added: "We are going further and faster to recycle more of our waste to protect the environment - less than 10% of household waste is now going to landfill and the amount of food waste being recycled is up by over 40% since 2015.

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“But we must do more, and through our major reforms of kerbside collections we will boost recycling levels and step up our war on plastic pollution – while our proposed weekly food waste collections will maximise recycling and stop the build-up of smelly waste around homes.”

The Mirror reported last month how government plans to standardise bin collection services could potentially see some rubbish uncollected for a month. 

There are fears that, by instructing councils to pick up food waste, glass and recyclables once a week by 2023, there could be a knock-on effect resulting in ordinary rubbish collections being delayed. 

Due to austerity measures, most of England’s 341 local authorities have already changed to fortnightly waste collections, with only 67 councils still able to keep up with weekly pick-ups.

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