The council carried out a Welsh Government-backed trial of the system, which consists of three boxes that stack together on a trolley, with 10,000 homes in the borough in 2013.
The container, which is designed and manufactured by Straight, now a part of the OnePlastics group, is intended to be more easily wheeled out for collection than separate containers.
Conwy is now set to roll the system out to a further 41,000 homes across the borough by Spring 2015, replacing the existing system involving boxes and bags for the collection of recyclable material.
Trolibocs
Under the Trolibocs system, paper and white/grey card goes in the top box; plastic, cans and drink cartons go in the middle box; with glass and brown cardboard in the bottom box.
According to the council, the pilot saw residual waste collected from households in trial areas reduce by around 4.8%, while dry recycling increased by around 6%.
Commenting on the scheme, councillor Dave Cowans, Conwy’s Cabinet Member for Highways, Environment and Sustainability, added: “I’m delighted that we are now rolling the Trolibocs out to all suitable households across the county, with over 41,000 set to get a new Trolibocs recycling container system by spring 2015. When it comes to recycling the people of Conwy are among the best in Wales and the Trolibocs makes it easier to be greener.”
Conwy Council worked with WRAP Cymru and the Welsh Government to pilot the system, with a grant to fund the boxes provided through the Welsh Government’s Collaborative Change Programme and evaluation of the pilot carried out by WRAP Cymru.
The Welsh Government’s Collaborative Change Programme was established in 2011 to help ensure that Wales meets the recycling targets set out in the Welsh Waste Strategy, ‘Towards Zero Waste’.
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Funding
As part of this the Welsh Government provides funding to local authorities to assist them to improve their services to make them more cost effective. In addition, councils receive advice, guidance and support from WRAP Cymru and Waste Awareness Wales.
Wales’ minister for natural resources, Carl Sargeant, visited Conwy borough council’s Gofer bulking station, to see the council’s new stackable recycling box system in operation.
He said: “The Welsh Government funded the pilot of the new Trolibocs recycling containers because we want to support Conwy residents to recycle as much as possible.
“I want to thank Conwy residents for their recycling efforts so far, however I’m ambitious to see rates continue to rise across Wales. The Trolibocs is easy to move, takes up less space than a wheelie bin and is well able to withstand windy days.
“Conwy was the first council in the UK to use the system and the Trolibocs will help its environment team to collect more high quality recycling. By separating materials in the separate boxes, more materials can be recycled in Wales rather than sent across the border or abroad, bringing benefits to the Welsh economy.”
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