Council proposes spending £350k to change bin lids

East Suffolk Council wants to change its green garden bins so they have a brown lid

A council is proposing to spend £350,000 on changing bin lids to avoid confusion with new ones being introduced.

From next year, households in East Suffolk will be given an additional wheelie bin or container for paper and card.

The new bins will be grey with a green lid, but the council worried they could be confused with its garden bins, which are entirely green.

The authority is now proposing to change garden bin lids to brown to avoid confusion but opposition Conservative councillor James Mallinder described the proposal as "nonsense".

The council has more than 50,000 households which subscribe to its garden waste collection.

In other areas of the country, garden rubbish is often collected in brown bins.

The council is looking to procure a contract to supply the new bin lids and said "initial enquiries have indicated that to purchase sufficient brown lids will cost around £300,000, with distribution and fitting around £50,000".

It detailed that this could be financed within its Better Recycling budget.

James Mallinder represents the ward of Deben on East Suffolk Council

Mallinder believed the money was a "waste" and it was "disappointing" to see.

"Waste collection and greater sorting by the household should be made as simple as possible," he explained.

"But we're seeing the Green Party increasing this burden onto the household and now we have this nonsense of multicoloured bins, different bins, different lid colours.

"Nobody is going to remember, this is going to be very confusing and it is not going to make a simple process."

Mallinder suggsted once a household's green bin subscription came to an end, it should be replaced with an entirely new bin in a new colour, with the old bin recycled.

'Cost-effective'

In response a spokesperson for the council said the proposal was the "most cost-effective way" of bringing the bins in line with the rest of the county where collections and colours will eventually be standardised.

"Better Recycling, which is being launched across Suffolk next year, will increase the amount of waste residents will be able to recycle at home and reduce confusion over what can be collected, and which bin should be used," they added.

"These changes, if approved, will be funded through the Better Recycling funding provided by Defra and will not impact spending on other essential council services."

The council's cabinet will decide on the proposal during a meeting on Tuesday.

The government has given councils targets to increase recycling rates, and East Suffolk Council must divert 60% of its waste to recycling by 2030 and 65% by 2035.

It previously agreed to change its general waste collection from fortnightly to once every three weeks in a bid to reduce carbon emissions.