Less than half of UK local authorities offer on-the-go recycling, and it appears that far fewer actually collect any material for recycling via this route. In 2023/24, less than 5% of local authorities reported collecting recycling via street bins, although issues with reporting mean that in reality more may do so. However, many are treating the material from street recycling bins as residual waste, perhaps because contamination rates average approximately 50% by weight.
The Cost of “Success”
The success of on-the-go recycling efforts varies, but even where considerable efforts are made, the outcomes leave something to be desired. The Leeds By Example project installed 200 on-the-go recycling bins in Leeds city centre in 2018, supported by an extensive communications campaign. Approximately 300,000 cans and plastic bottles and 1.2 million coffee cups were recycled in the first year. However, it was estimated the capture rate of plastic and can products was only 20%, and the average contamination in recycling was 39%. At a project cost of £400,000, this equates to over £30k per tonne collected in the first year. Over 20 years (the estimated lifespan of infrastructure), the cost would be £1.5k per tonne.
As Leeds By Example was the first project of its type, improvements have since been made. More recent projects have achieved capture rates around 80%. However, contamination remains high, ranging from 20% to 86% by weight. Most projects (e.g. in Suffolk and Belfast) have been smaller scale, costing less than £25k for the introduction of around 20-25 on-the-go recycling bins. Project costs in Salisbury in 2022, funded by a grant, equated to £3.5k per tonne material collected, or £176 per tonne over 20 years.
These costs do not include post-campaign costs, such as collections, ongoing communications or expansion of the service. Therefore, a council seeking to recycle more litter would need to find a way to fund these ongoing costs to ensure the initial success is maintained.
Collecting recycling from street bins is clearly a challenge, and one that is expensive to meet. Impending policy changes may worsen the incentives further. The UK’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), scheduled to be implemented in 2027, will change the composition of litter by removing around 90% of plastic bottles and drinks cans from street bins. Therefore, future on-the-go recycling projects would need to focus on recyclables such as sandwich wrappers and drinks cups, that are more difficult to manage, where communications would be more difficult and contamination rates may be higher.
The solution may come from Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), which could require producers to cover the costs of managing packaging materials likely to be disposed of in street bins. It would be likely that producers would want to see some level of recycling captured within the overall service provided by councils – and other bodies responsible for collecting litter. However, Defra has deferred a final decision and the Welsh Government are currently consulting on whether and how to include street bins and/or ground litter in the EPR scheme until the DRS has been implemented.
So, is on-the-go recycling worth it?
Capture of materials for recycling would contribute towards meeting the UK’s residual waste reduction target, increase packaging recycling and provide carbon benefits through the diversion of materials from the residual waste stream. However, the need for binfrastructure, collection vehicles and crew, and campaigns to promote the correct use of the service all contribute to a high cost per tonne of material captured. This, combined with high contamination, mean the numbers rarely stack up.
With plastic bottles and cans likely to be captured by the DRS, the future focus would need to be on other on-the-go recyclables, such as coffee cups. However, evidence from campaigns suggests that it is harder to communicate the need to recycle these materials, suggesting that tonnages will be lower, and contamination higher. If councils want to capture more material for recycling, investing in mixed waste sorting may be more cost-effective – especially where councils are already considering this technology to reduce fossil carbon in residual waste to limit costs when incineration comes within scope of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) in 2028.
On-the-go recycling schemes have (at best) variable success; the DRS is likely to change the composition of litter; and there is little clarity about the role of EPR. However, councils have opportunities to improve how litter is managed and prepare for the arrival of the DRS and ETS. Research carried out by Eunomia found that street bin service costs vary considerably and do not seem to correlate with factors that one might expect to impact costs, such as rurality or tourism levels. This suggests that service reviews and best practice research may find savings; and combining a service review with analysis of the effects of DRS, which could remove 15% of street bin waste, would help authorities shape their services so that they are optimised for the future.
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