Decision details

To reduce to zero the £12 charge made for domestic recycling bins and the £5 charge made for recycling boxes, with effect from 1 August 2018 – 31 March 2019.

To reduce to zero the £12 charge made for domestic recycling bins and the £5 charge made for recycling boxes, with effect from 1 August 2018 – 31 March 2019.

1.    In 2017/18 we exceeded our target income from charging for domestic bins by a net of £10,930.  We also underspent on purchase of new bins by up to £41,000 across Waste Operations Services.

2.    Removing the £12 charge for domestic green recycling bins for both sizes, small 140 litres and large 240 litres will reduce our income by estimated £14,900.  We will continue to charge for the 1100 litre communal recycling bins, which developers and property manager are normally happy to pay for.

3.    Since we began charging £12 for green bins in 2014/15 our recycling rate dropped from 34.7% to 33.3%: a reduction of 1.4 percentage points.  The reclassification of schools’ and similar wastes as household waste accounts for 0.8 of a percentage point reduction (but saved us £65k in disposal costs).There remains a drop of 0.6 of a percentage point for which the charge for green bins is likely to be a contributory factor.  Recycling rate has continued to reduce to 32%.

4.    If, by removing the £12 charge for green bins, we added the “lost” 0.6 of a percentage point to our recycling rate this would equate to an additional 250 tonnes of domestic recycling. This would give us £28k in recycling income @ £112 per tonne.

5.    The above table sets out current and projected income if we are to cease the £12 green bin charge. Obviously the bin charges income will be reduced, but it is expected what we will increase the income from material sales, due to higher participation. Currently sales are £112/tonne which we estimate will bring in £28,000 in income, more than offsetting the lost in income from green bin sales.

6.    Recent survey, and door to door communications work carried out on the Devon District Councils’ behalf by Resource Futures has shown that people view their refuse bin as their main bin. Once the face to face conversation and education had taken place many then understood that the recycling bin is the main bin and the refuse bin should only be used when the material cannot be recycled. Converting residents to think like this is encourage an update in material for recycling.  Reducing the charge for a recycling bin to zero will encourage this shift in behaviour.

Target the low performing areas to recycle more. To be effective this is a project that will need to run alongside the offering of free recycling bins as it is difficult toask residents to recycle more but ask them to pay for the privilege of undertaking this behaviour.