Two areas in Beanhill received the bags for the trial which began last month through to Wednesday (10 February). If the trial is considered a success the council has said that it will roll out the sacks across the borough in summer 2016.
According to a council report, up to 11.7 million pink plastic bags are used per year, with households provided with 80 free of charge each year. On the proposed changes, the report noted: “A number of authorities are using this approach and the changes have been positively received by residents.”
This comes as the council is attempting to make budget savings during a period of austerity. According to Milton Keynes, the central government is cutting its funding by £9.3 million.
Environmental benefits
In addition to saving costs, the council has outlined several environmental benefits that will be provided through the use of reusable bags.
A statement from the council said: “Just as shoppers are being encouraged to reuse plastic carrier bags, following the government’s recent introduction of a 5p charge for plastic carrier bags, the continued use of plastic sacks to contain our recycling is no longer viable and a reusable alternative will bring both environmental and economic benefits.”
In addition the switch would cut the amount of plastic making its way to the waste stream and it may encourage residents who put the wrong items in their pink sacks to sort their waste correctly, the council claims. The council said that residents will be in favour of the move as they will no longer need to purchase additional sacks when they run out.
Service
The same items which currently go in the pink sacks can also be deposited in the new bags. These include paper, cardboard, cans, plastic bottles, plastic tubs and trays, cartons, aerosols and foil.
Similar to builders’ bags, the new sacks have a capacity of up to 15kg and are made of a strong woven fabric. They are fitted with a weight at the bottom to stop them from blowing away and a lid which fastens with Velcro to keep the contents inside. The reason the authority chose bags instead of wheeled bins is due to the fact that its current collection vehicles are not equipped to handle bins and the cost of a new fleet in addition to bins for the 106,000 households is “prohibitive.”
The bags will be collected on a weekly basis by services firm Serco, who signed a four year extension to its recycling and waste collections contract will the council in July 2014 (see letsrecycle.com story). Residents living in flats will not be affected by the proposed change.
Councillor
The trial recently came under fire from Milton Keynes’ Liberal Democrat leader councillor Douglas McCall who said that it would be risky to scrap the successful pink bag service before the outcome of the reusable bag scheme is known.
However, councillor Mick Legg, cabinet member for environment and waste is confident that it is a convenient alternative. He said: “At a time when we’re attempting to reduce our waste both nationally and globally, the continued use of plastic bags to recycle our waste is no longer sustainable, so we need to test a greener, more viable alternative which will make it just as easy for residents to recycle and save the council money.
“We hope the bags will prove to be far more convenient for householders and reduce the amount of debris in our streets resulting from animals and birds attacking pink sacks. Most notably the switch will bring an end to some people, and commercial operators in particular, using pink sacks for purposes other than recycling in the mistaken belief that the sacks are free.”
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