And, by April 20, the unitary authority intends to expand its kerbside service to include a range of mixed plastics, such as margarine and ice cream tubs, yoghurt pots, confectionary tubs and food trays.
A large number of councils currently do not collect the material at the kerbside due to a lack of processing outlets for the mixed plastic streams, with other councils such as Swindon borough council introducing the material in July 2009 (see letsrecycle.com story) and the London borough of Camden in October last year (see letsrecycle.com story).
The decision to extend the service comes in the wake of a phased introduction of plastic bottle collections in the region since May 2009, with the second phase of the scheme launched in November 2009 extending the service to around 25,000 households.
The council said that the response to the introduction had been “very positive” and been met with calls for an increased range of plastics recycling.
Speaking to letsrecycle.com, recycling officer Philip Shaw said: “We started with a trial area with plastic bottles, it was what residents demanded as our residents want to recycle more and they want to recycle more plastics in general and cardboard.”
Mr Shaw was unable to divulge the cost of introducing the additional materials at the kerbside, although he claimed it was not a “significant increase”.
Biffa was unavailable for comment on where the mixed plastic material would be sent to be reprocessed.
Some had feared that plastics would be removed from kerbside collections in the wake of councils tightening budgets (see letsrecycle.com story), with East Cambridgeshire district council withdrawing the material in February this year in order to cut operational costs (see letsrecycle.com story).
Collections
The contract is also set to see Middlesbrough council move to fortnightly collections of dry recyclables, with households being issued a plastic bag for plastics, another for paper and a black box for glass bottles and jars and food and drinks cans.
Plans are also in the pipeline for the council to add cardboard, Tetrapak juice cartons and household batteries to the kerbside collection service this summer – with a start date of Tuesday July 6 being targeted.
Councillor Paul Thompson, Middlesbrough council's executive member for streetscene services, said: “People are increasingly aware of the importance of recycling as much household waste as possible, and as a council we are committed to providing a waste and recycling collection service which meets those needs.”
Commenting on the change of contractor from Palm to Biffa, Cllr Thompson said: “We achieved great results during our partnership with Palm and now we are able to further enhance the service with Biffa.”
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