Council's 'ambition' of kerbside glass collection

Stephen Conway said Wokingham Borough Council was assessing how best to introduce the service

A council has an "ambition" to offer kerbside glass recycling but it first needs to assess the impact of a cut in its central government funding, its leader has said.

The government is introducing its Simpler Recycling initiative, which will require all local authorities to collect core recyclable materials, including glass, from the kerbside by March 2026.

Stephen Conway, who runs Wokingham Borough Council (WBC), said introducing the service would cost the council a lot of money, and may only have a small impact on glass-recycling rates.

"We're not saying we're not going to do it, we're saying we're pausing to assess how we can best do this," he said.

In June, the government announced an overhaul of how it allocated funding to local authorities, which would see a greater share of funding redirected towards areas with more properties in lower council tax bands.

Local government minister Jim McMahon said the new rules would move "around £2bn of funding to the places and communities that need it most".

But Conway said the change would result in WBC losing nearly £50m over three years.

Wokingham residents already recycle 84% of their glass, Mr Conway said

He said WBC was under "significant financial pressure", so it was looking at everything "on a value-for-money basis" - including the paused plans for kerbside glass recycling.

"We do already have a very good record on glass recycling, one of the best in the country - 84%," he said.

"And we calculate that if we introduced kerbside glass recycling, that will improve but probably only by another 0.5%, and it's going to cost us a lot - it'll be £1.5m to set up the kerbside glass collections and then £700,000 a year thereafter."

A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: "Local communities like Wokingham deserve good public services which is why councils will receive an extra £1bn to improve recycling services.

"We will go further to reform the outdated funding system ensuring councils are funded fairly."

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