Merseyside launches “bin watch”

The investigation will be used to determine the types of waste, particularly recyclable waste, which is thrown away by residents in the area.

” This is the first Merseyside-wide waste analysis that has been undertaken “
– Carl Beer, MWDA
MWDA will conduct the survey alongside Knowlsey district council, Liverpool city council, Sefton district council, St Helens district council and Wirral district council.

As part of the normal collection rounds a special team will be checking and analysing the types of waste in household bins, and will be looking at both the amounts of waste discarded by householders – including paper, magazines, cans, bottles, green waste and plastics.

The samples of waste, which will be taken randomly from normal collections, will be taken to one of MWDA's recycling centres for analysis.

Carl Beer, director of MWDA, said: “This is the first Merseyside-wide waste analysis that has been undertaken, and the authority will be using results to work with districts not only to help improve recycling and waste collections but also to help the waste disposal authority plan for the future in the development of new facilities and methods of disposal.”

Results of the research are expected later in the year and the research will be repeated over the next year to gauge waste habits during winter, spring and summer.

Councillor Fletcher of MWDA, added: “We have launched the survey throughout Merseyside as we were keen to know what types of waste that people were throwing away. It is clear, even before the completion of the research, that there is a huge amount that we are still throwing away that we could recycle.”