York to resume box rollout following summer break

City of York council is preparing to resume deliveries of kerbside recycling boxes to thousands of residents in the city after they were put on hold during the summer.

In June and July, the council started rolling out two boxes to 30,000 homes as part of plans to make its service more efficient and user-friendly. Up until that point, households had used a system of one box and bags to put out recyclables for collection.

However, the council stopped the deliveries in late July because it did not want bins to be left outside homes for too long while people were on holiday.

As a result, it is to begin deliveries again on September 6 to a further 40,000 homes. This will mean that by October 15, most residents in the city will have access to the three-box system.

The two new boxes delivered to each home, which come with lids, will be used for glass and paper and card respectively, with the one existing box used for plastic bottles and metal cans. A net is also being provided to cover the existing box as they are all a different size and no one lid was appropriate.

The 55 litre boxes are provided by Leeds-based container supplier Straight, and are black to enable them to have as high a recycled content as possible.

Separate

City of York council explained that the boxes would help ensure that different materials were separated before collection by its in-house collection crew.

The new method of storage will also prevent paper and plastic being blown about by the wind as had been a problem using bags, it claimed. The boxes will still be collected on the same day every fortnight.

Head of waste services for city of York council, Geoff Derham, said: “The second phase of deliveries will begin on September and is expected to be complete by mid October. We've already had lots of positive feedback from residents who are finding the new boxes easy to use and fell that they look much tidier when stacked outside their homes for collection.”

A council spokesman added: “The cost of the new boxes is £450,000 and we anticipate that they will be self funding through efficiency savings within three years.”

Expand

The rollout of new boxes in York comes as the city also expands its recycling service to cover the 25% of homes which have not had access to its kerbside service since it was launched in 2005.

Terraced streets with narrow back lanes, flats and apartments were not originally included because of the practical difficulties of reaching them. However, following a successful trial last year, during which a variety of methods were tested, the service is now being rolled out to these homes.

The council hopes the move will help boost its already high recycling and composting rate – 45% in 2008/9 – and also satisfy the Household Waste Recycling Act 2003, which comes into force at the end of this year and requires councils to collect at least two materials from all households unless it is prohbitively expensive.

Speaking in May, Mr Derham said: “Although the council has always been committed to extending the kerbside recycling service to every home, from the end of December it will become a government requirement for all household to receive a recycling collection for at least two materials.

“We know that most residents in the areas of York that have not previously had a full kerbside recycling service are very keen to receive it, but the nature of the housing in certain areas meant that we needed to give more thought to the methods we would use to carry out the collections.”