Wiltshire bin collections to be overhauled by council

Residents will be asked to present recycling in one wheeled bin or weighted reusable sack for paper and cardboard, a second wheeled bin or weighted reusable sack for mixed plastics, cans, cartons, and bagged flexible plastics, and a box for glass.

According to the council, an “extensive level of due diligence” has been carried out to ensure the decision is the right one.

Cllr Dominic Muns at the cabinet meeting. (Image: Wiltshire Council) The proposals were agreed at the cabinet meeting on Tuesday, November 19 and set out that the council will adopt ‘Three Stream’ recycling collections, which for most people “introduces a single additional wheeled bin”.

Speaking to other attendees, cabinet member for waste Cllr Dominic Muns explained: “Our waste and recycling contracts expire in 2026, and we need to start looking at procurement now.”

He noted: “The Environment Act of 2021 sets out some clear rules which dictate how we handle waste and recycling.

“There are some things that we can control in Wiltshire and there are other things that are out of our control, and food waste and flexible plastics are two examples.”

To comply with statutory requirements, the council must provide a regular collection of soft plastics and food waste from 2027.

It has agreed with Defra to collect food waste by August 2027 and flexible plastics by April 2027.

Cllr Muns said: “The government also wants us to increase recycling rates.

“By 2030, they want to see 65 per cent of municipal waste being recycled.

“Currently in Wiltshire, we are recycling 43.7 per cent.”

He added: “This is measured by weight, and therefore, comparisons with other authorities who currently collect food waste will unfairly skew those figures.”

Cllr Muns listed some of the different recycling options that were considered and explained: “I can’t emphasise enough the level of complexity that officers have examined and considered over the last few months in order to form this proposal.”

The council concluded that the ‘Three Stream” approach should result in a significant reduction in annual revenue expenditure, increased income from commodity sales, improved recycling rate, simplification of the recycling sorting process and significant reduction in carbon emissions.

Speaking on behalf of the Liberal Democrats on the council, Cllr Martin Smith said he was “supportive of the direction of travel” but questioned whether the estimated future “enhanced baseline” recycling rate of 52.8 per cent was ambitious enough.

In a statement released after the meeting, Cllr Muns said: “Any potential change that affects all households in the county cannot be done lightly and that’s why we’ve carried out an extensive level of due diligence to ensure the decision we make is the right one.

“Our focus is ensuring residents have the very best opportunities to recycle as much as possible from the kerbside, that we meet all our obligations as set out in the Environment Act and that these services are financially sustainable.

“Together with all other local authorities, we are awaiting further clarification on certain aspects of the Environment Act and when that comes through that too may impact our plans.

“It’s important to note that the decision we’ve made is just the first step, and that residents will not see any changes to their collections for a few years.

“We’ll keep people updated as this process continues."