Windsor set for UKs first full RecycleBank rollout

Plans to introduce the scheme – which sees residents awarded vouchers and discounts based on the amount of material they place at the kerbside for recycling – from July 2010 have been agreed in the wake of “hugely successful” trials carried out by the council and its collection contractor Veolia since June 2009 (see letsrecycle.com story).

The rollout means the scheme is being extended from the 6,500 households covered by the pilot schemes to cater for 60,000 households within the council area, with each household being issued with a 240 litre blue wheeled bin, complete with microchip technology to store RecycleBank data and allow it to be weighed.

The bins will replace the existing twin box recycling system used by the council, which are used to separate containers and fibres.

The council said it had previously intended to replace the twin box system in two years time when its existing collection contract ends but, under the RecycleBank system, it would be possible to introduce wheeled bins at an earlier date.

Funding for the scheme is drawn from a flat-rate payment made by the council to RecycleBank, with further revenue based on Landfill Tax savings made by the council by diverting material from landfill under the scheme.

Councillor Liam Maxwell, lead member for policy and performance, said: “We have demonstrated that incentives help change behaviour. Incentives – not penalties – are the way forward and councils in other parts of the country are following the Royal borough's lead as they look for ways of helping residents change the way they dispose of waste and increase their recycling.”

Trials

The first trial of the scheme was introduced in June 2009, with 2,800 residents made eligible for RecycleBank points based on the amount of green waste put out for recycling, followed by an expansion of the trial to include a range of dry recyclables, such as, paper, cardboard plastic, glass and metal from September 2009.

The expansion, which took the form of a six-month pilot for 3,750 households, enabled residents to earn up to £130 per year in vouchers and discounts to be spent at high street and local shops (see letsrecycle.com story).

The council claimed last month that the trials had “exceed expectations”, with high levels of participation from residents and increases in the amount of material collected from households in the pilot areas.

Speaking to letsrecycle.com today, Terry Gould, head of public protection at Windsor and Maidenhead, said: “The results from the trials were staggering, we are now making an assumption that we can replicate our performance if we roll it out to the borough.”

Mr Gould added that the council decision could now act as a catalyst for other councils to adopt the scheme. “We know a lot are waiting on our decision, I can think of at least half a dozen who will now come out of the shadows,” he added.

At present, the only other local authority to have introduced a formal RecycleBank trial is Halton borough council in October 2009 (see letsrecycle.com story).