Councillors are being asked to back an information campaign aimed at reducing contamination in recycling bins.
If they back the idea, the Brighton and Hove City Council campaign would also encourage people to reduce the overall amount of rubbish that they produce.
A report to the council’s City Environment, South Downs and the Sea Committee said that about 13 per cent of recycling collected in Brighton and Hove was contaminated with other rubbish, such as food waste drinks cartons and other plastics.
The report said that contaminated recycling may have to be disposed of in the same way as general waste.
The committee is due to meet next Tuesday (19 September) when councillors are also being asked to approve recycling for metal lids from glass bottles and jars in glass recycling collections.
In the past year, it said, the recycling rate was 28.3 per cent, with other waste sent to the incinerator at Newhaven where it was burnt to generate electricity for more than 20,000 homes.
Less than 1 per cent of Brighton and Hove’s waste went to landfill in 2022-23 although local homes produced an average of 552 kilograms of waste each – more than half a ton.
This was an increase from the previous year but, over the past eight years, there has been a fall of more than 10 per cent in the volume of rubbish produced.
Six new carton recycling bins have been placed – in Western Road, Lewes Road, Portland Road, King’s Esplanade, Queen’s Park Terrace and White Cross Street.
The council has appointed a “waste minimisation officer” for two years. The report said: “This new appointment provides additional resources in the service to begin a concerted information and behaviour change campaign.”
The campaign would be aimed at reducing the volume of waste produced, increasing the levels of reuse, increasing the levels of recycling and reducing contamination of recycling bins.
The report added: “Not only will this help improve Brighton and Hove’s waste performance but it will also help encourage further circular economy practices and principles which contributes to the city becoming carbon-neutral by 2030.”
Changes to national rules and guidance – and delays to those changes – mean that the council cannot plan to start recycling new materials at the moment, the report said.
It added that there was uncertainty over funding to bring in food waste recycling by March 2025 although a deposit return scheme for drinks containers is expected to start by October 2025.
The council has employed a new project manager to prepare for the Environment Act which is expected to include a requirement to develop a food waste collection service.
Consultations are expected next year for recyclable textiles collections and business takeback for used textiles. In 2025, in line with government proposals, a consultation is also likely on removing fees from bulky waste collections.
The City Environment, South Downs and the Sea Committee is due to meet at Hove Town Hall at 4pm on Tuesday 19 September. The meeting is scheduled to be webcast on the council’s website.
I support this. There is a lot that can be recycled, and some things that surprisingly cannot. Pizza boxes for example, generally can’t because they are saturated with oil.
I’m surprised the number is only 13 percent. Those on-street communal recycling bins are so regularly confused or used for disposal of anything other than the limited recyclable materials they’re intended for.
Better communication over what can and cannot be recycled has a long way to go.
We need to encourage more home/communal composting.
Working on it Christopher! Got several built in my area so far. Need to have an educational day about it next.
As someone who lives in a terraced street with no off-street storage I have to leave the bins on the path seven days a week. And to the dog walker who keeps leaving their little bags in my recycle bin – just stop it. The annoyance is there is even a real dog bin only a few yards away.
Even when you try and only have the right things in the right bins some selfish person comes along and throws trash or worse in there.
I also find it funny that there are “carton” and “tetra pak” bins scattered at odd locations around the city. So are people driving their cars to those places to recycle? Burning petrol\electric to access these is not exactly positive. We need more picked up kerbside. It is embarrassing when you visit a friend in a different county as to how much their councils handle.
History has taught me people are generally unwilling to walk more than a few additional metres to recycle. Tetrapaks for me, unfortunately, go into general waste, because I’d need to drive 10 minutes away to get to the nearest spot. We do our best with other bits and pieces though – I’m happy to say more stuff is recycled out of my household than wasted.
Yes, we have the same issue with dog poo bags. When we spoke to someone about it, he came back with his girlfriend the following day. She stood ranting outside and filming us. If only she knew of his misdemeanour.
We need more detailed information displayed prominently and sent to homes. We have communal recycling bins and my neighbours regularly contaminate them presumably out of ignorance
I agree! In fact, I might see if I can get the council to do this!
Take it up to Lewes prison and get them sifting through it.
I use Magpie for my recycling – since before the council was forced by government legislation to start doing it. Yes I pay for it but they do a better job and recycle more.
I do notice that if one communal refuse bin is full the other will be used, regardless of what it says on the side. Perhaps (dare I even say it) better collections ?
Unfortunately, I see that happening in my area as well. There’s a question sometimes on capacity if normal waste is getting overfilled. The alternative is that the equation used to calculate capacity assumes a certain level of recycling, and perhaps that needs adjusting.