Council poised to spend millions on 300,000 new wheelie bins for the people of Milton Keynes

Milton Keynes Council is set to spend an estimated £5m on 300,000 new wheelie bins for local households.

They are currently gathering tenders from companies to supply the huge order, in preparation to scrap the current black bag scheme in 2023.

Each household will then receive four different wheelie bins - a green-lidded one for food and garden waste, a blue-lidded one for plastic, metals and glass, a red-lidded one for paper and card, and a bin with a grey lid for residual waste.

Residual waste, along with food and garden waste, will still be collected each week but the rest will be collected fortnightly.

The move follows a trial and a public consultation, which showed 76% of residents were in favour of scrapping the current black sacks and clear recycling sacks in favour of wheeled bins.

This will mean cleaner streets, less litter from spillage, increased recycling and reduced contamination rates, say councillors. There are also lower rates of injuries for residents and refuse-collecting staff moving sacks.

But first the mammoth task of buying the bins has to be undertaken. Before Christmas, a tender programme was launched to find the right supplier and these tenders are now being evaluated for a decision to be made in March or April.

Labour Councillor Lauren Townsend, Cabinet member for Public Realm, said: “The results of the wheeled bin pilot and consultation were clear – 3 out of 4 residents want to make the switch to wheeled bins.”

“I’m happy to take this next step in rolling out wheeled bins to make Milton Keynes cleaner and greener.”

Liberal Democrat Councillor Kerrie Bradburn moved the original motion , calling for a wheeled bin trial back in July 2019:

She said: “Moving to wheeled bins will bring great benefits to the residents of Milton Keynes. Without fragile plastic bags that can split easily, and spillage that can attract vermin, our streets will be cleaner. Our contamination rates can go down, and recycling rates up, as these bins make it easier to separate waste."

MK is one the top recyclers in the UK and was one of the first places in the country to introduce separate kerbside recycling collection in the 1990s.

But the black and clear sack system is rapidly becoming outdated, with 84% of councils in England now suppling their residents with wheeled bins.