Local Elections 2023: Is Milton Keynes facing 'bin-mageddon' over waste changes?

The new wheelie bins are due to be rolled out across Milton Keynes in September

This summer tens of thousands of wheelie bins will be rolled out across Milton Keynes.

The city's rubbish and recycling is currently collected in plastic sacks but a new waste contract will see most homes using four bins.

Non-recyclable rubbish will continue to be taken away weekly and it is hoped the area's recycling rate will increase.

But as the local elections approach, what are voters thinking about bins?

Adam Chapman-Ballard says residents are concerned about where they will store four wheelie bins

"We're quite worried we're going to end up with bin-mageddon."

Adam Chapman-Ballard, 47, is standing at the end of his quiet cul-de-sac in Milton Keynes.

We are next to the allotments that he – as chairman of Walton Community Council – helped establish.

"If we think about this street – there are 40 houses in this street," he continued. "That means there are going to be 160 bins."

The new service will see a black bin for non-recyclable rubbish, one with a blue lid for plastic, metal and glass, another with a red lid for paper and cardboard, and a green bin for food and garden waste.

Rubbish and recycling are currently collected in sacks in Milton Keynes, while food and garden waste go in a green wheelie bin

Mr Chapman-Ballard said for many of his neighbours "the only place that you could conceivably put the bins is directly under your front room windows" but the bins are so tall they would block the windows from being opened.

"Not everyone has the capacity, or a side alleyway or somewhere where they can store four bins and any overflow," he added.

He and his fellow community councillors have been receiving emails from parishioners.

There are, he said, three main concerns.

"Where are they going to store these bins when they don't have the space to store them, they are also concerned about what happens when the bins get returned to their property.

"Will the operatives put them back neatly on their driveways, or will they block the paths to stop people with buggies or wheelchairs, or in the road and stop the cars coming in?"

The final worry is about recycling moving from being collected weekly to alternating between the blue and red-topped bins.

"What happens when the average family fills up their recycling bin with some milk bottles and a couple of pizza boxes or the [shopping] deliveries that we all have? What do you do with that excess waste when your recycling gets full?"

'We want it to succeed'

It is hoped separating items into two bins will increase Milton Keynes' recycling rate because there will be less contamination.

"If it reduces some of the rat problem that some areas have got, then we're all for that," Mr Chapman-Ballard said. "We've got to increase the recycling rates – [I] completely acknowledge that.

"But it's got to be done in a way that's actually managed so that people buy into it.

"We want it to succeed - let's be clear about that - we want a better solution."

The new service is due to start in September.

The council is offering assisted collections for people with medical conditions or disabilities – and if there is no-one else in the house who could put the bins out.

MK City Council also says a "small number of homes that aren't suitable for wheelie bins" will stay with bin bags or a mix of sacks for recycling and a wheelie bin for other rubbish. The changes will only affect "street-level" properties, like houses or houses converted into flats.

There is an online postcode checker for residents to check how their waste may be collected.

What do the parties say?

Kim Weston is worried about not getting her bin returned

At the Trinity Centre in Fishermead, an MK suburb close to the city centre, Kim Weston says she has already bought the corresponding door numbers for her wheelie bins, months before they are due to be delivered.

Mrs Weston, 70, is volunteering at the community larder held at the centre. For her, the bins will be a "nuisance".

"I don't like the appearance of them," she said.

"I think they're a nuisance – and for some older people, trying to pull one of those bins out is bad enough, but trying to pull four bins out could be a blooming nuisance.

"There are four different colours – they're just an eyesore."

• Local Elections 2023: Milton Keynes in four graphs

The council hopes that wheelie bins will also deter rats and foxes, which have been known tear open bin bags for food.

But Brian Jenkins, who came to the Trinity Centre for its community breakfast, is sceptical.

"You put food in a wheelie bin, the rats will still get in them, might take them a little bit longer, but they will still do it and you've got the expense still," the 62-year-old said.

Ophelia Cole hopes the wheelie bins will put off pests like rats and foxes

Ophelia Cole says she is "getting warm" to wheelie bins.

"I came from London several years ago, where they were using wheelie bins. Here I've seen that bags are really an issue with pests and things.

"The rubbish will be contained – I don't think pests are that advanced that they can open bins, so we're safe there. But they would tear open bags."

She also admitted that while searching for bin bags recently for her rubbish she found herself thinking "I can't wait for the bins to come so I can just chuck them in".

Maria Affa is not looking forward to the change

Maria Affa, 59, is in the centre's kitchen, preparing the cooked breakfasts and dispatching them through a serving hatch.

Given the choice, she would stay with bags, though she can see the benefits of wheelie bins in stopping pests.

Her concern is not about how they look or where they will be stored.

"I just feel [bags are] what I'm used to. I don't want to change, if possible," she said.

• A full list of candidates standing for Milton Keynes Council is available here.

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