New wheelie bins roll out across Milton Keynes to improve waste collection service

A new greener, modernised waste collection service launches in Milton Keynes on Monday. (4/9)

Milton Keynes was the first place in the UK to introduce kerbside recycling (in 1992) and is now aiming to become the country’s greenest weekly waste and recycling collection to help battle climate change.

Milton Keynes City Council consulted on whether to introduce wheelie bins to improve recycling rates and quality with three quarters of residents who responded saying they preferred a move to wheelie bins.

The council has also invested in 129 (which include 65 new waste collection vehicles) new state-of-the-art vehicles, including some smaller vehicles that can negotiate tighter spaces.

The vast majority of residents will move to wheelie bins including two bins for recycling (red lid for paper and card and blue lid for plastic, metal and glass). Some households who have no space or access for bins will remain using sacks – also separating waste into red and blue sacks. Separating waste in this way is a proven technique to improve recycling rates and quality. Residents can now put glass bottles and jars into their blue lid bin or sack instead of using a separate container.

Collections remain weekly, with red and blue recycling collected on alternate weeks. As waste and recycling will be collected in different vehicles to prevent contamination, a household may receive more than one collection with bins/sacks picked up at different times on the same day.

Cllr Lauren Townsend, Cabinet Member for the Public Realm said: “This is a significant project that’s been years in the making and we’re confident it will lead to better recycling, cleaner streets, and less pests.

"I’d like to thank all residents for helping us make this shift to a cleaner and greener city and especially for everyone’s patience in the early days. As you would expect with a project of this scale, we’ll be learning and improving as we go.”

The council has written to all homes to explain what items go into each bin or sack and published this information on its website. You can also check online whether it’s a ‘blue or red collection’ week, and what day of the week your waste collection is here “