Huge response to planned changes to York recycling – with bigger bins and fewer collections

Recycling collections could move from fortnightly to once every three weeks under City of York Council proposals.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) is residents’ last chance to have their say by filling out a survey on the planned changes.

Under the move, households would be given a bigger bin for glass, plastic and tins, as well as an extra box for card and paper and a bigger bin for garden waste.

The council hopes the change will get people to recycle more.

There would be no change to black bin collections.

But recycling would be collected on a three weekly rota, with residents asked to put out paper and card in week one, plastic, tins and glass in week two and garden waste in week three.

The council says there has already been “incredible engagement” with the survey, with a “large volume of responses”.

Meeting moved

A meeting to discuss residents’ views was due to take place on May 22 but has now been delayed by a month, to June 24, to allow officers to look at all the responses.

The amount of household rubbish sent for recycling in York has flatlined at about 44 per cent a year since 2017.

The council says giving residents larger bins means overall there will be more space for recycling, despite collections becoming less frequent.

At the launch of the consultation in March, Cllr Paula Widdowson said: “Residents are doing a fantastic job of recycling in York.

“Kerbside recycling rates in York are doing really well, with around 43 per cent either being reused, recycled or composted.

“However, it has remained at this figure for a number of years and we now have a real opportunity to make a big difference to help York become a cleaner and greener city, by introducing more efficient waste vehicles and helping residents to recycle even more.

“We want to hear residents’ views on our current waste collections, as this is a key part of improving the service in the future.”

Have your say here.