End to black boxes as communal recycling bins arrive

Residents in Regency and St Peter’s North Laine wards wave goodbye to their black boxes next week as new communal recycling bins are now in place.

By the end of this week Brighton & Hove City Council will have installed the bins in 88 streets in Regency and St Peter’s North Laine, completing Phase 1 of the scheme.

Residents are already busy using the mixed recycling bins to recycle their plastic bottles, food and drink cans, cardboard and paper and enjoying being able to drop off their recycling whenever they like.

The black box collection scheme ends next week and residents can choose to keep their boxes to store their recycling or leave them outside for the council to collect and re-use in other parts of the city.

Most of the communal bins, which will be emptied at least three times a week, have been placed alongside existing communal refuse bins to avoid taking up parking spaces. Locations of the glass recycling bins have been chosen to avoid problems with noise.

Residents helped decide where the bins should be located following feedback from the public consultation and exhibitions earlier this year.

Cllr Pete West, chair of the environment, transport and sustainability committee said : “It’s great to see the new communal bins already filling up and that residents are clearly enjoying being able to get rid of their recycling whenever they like.

“We are particularly pleased that residents of 11 streets now have their first opportunity to recycle, as access problems prevented them from taking part in the previous black box scheme.”

He added that the new scheme will also see the end of black boxes cluttering pavements and doorsteps, and stop passers-by using them as bins, contaminating contents and causing wind-blown litter.

The introduction of the scheme is expected to bring big increases in recycling rates. A trial of over 3,000 homes in Brunswick and Adelaide during 2012 saw recycling rates rise from 12.5 per cent to 21 per cent.

The scheme is being funded with an £840,000 government grant to help councils improve waste collection and recycling services. The scheme is expected to result in savings of approximately £500k over 6 years.

The communal bin roll-out will be completed by April 2014 and will eventually serve 32,000 city centre households from west Hove to East Brighton.