First stacks of new wheelie bins delivered to households in Milton Keynes

The first deliveries of new wheelie bins have taken place in Milton Keynes today.

A Heelands resident captured the stacks of red, blue and black lidded bins being handed out en masse to homes on his estate this morning.

Thomas posted his photo on social media, prompting one joker to quip: “Is this cul-de-sac battleships?”.

The city-wide delivery programme will take three months to complete – but nobody is allowed to use their new bins until September 4, when the new system officially begins.

Milton Keynes City Council has spent around£5m buying the 300,000 wheelie bins. Each of the city’s 119,000 households will receive three – 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.

This will be on top of the existing green wheelie bins, which will continue to be used for food and garden waste.

A minority of homes assessed as unsuitable for wheelie bins will receive coloured sacks instead.

The switch from plastic sacks to wheeled bins should lead to less street litter, higher recycling rates, and will be better for the environment, says the council.

The move will increase the city’s recycling rate by more than 8%, from the current 52% to over 60%.

Cabinet member for Waste and Recycling, Cllr Lauren Townsend, said: “Changing to wheelie bins for the collection of the majority of rubbish and recycling across MK will help us towards our goal to be one of the cleanest and greenest cities to live and work in.”

The advantages include less street litter from sack spillage, fewer pests and vermin, higher levels of recycling, better quality of recyclable materials, lower rates of injuries for residents and fewer plastic sacks for the environment to cope with.

It will also be easier to monitor “misuse” of the bins. “No more anonymous used nappies being put out in clear sacks!” said Lauren.

The new bins even have braille on them for those who cannot see the different coloured lids.

For those with mobility issues who are unable to manoeuvre their bins, the council offers an assisted collection service. Call 01908 252570 to arrange this.