Sheffield recycling: The new items you may soon be able to put in your brown bin under planned changes
Sheffield Council is considering proposals to change bin collections as part of a national push for increased recycling efforts.
The new proposals will be discussed by the council’s Environmental Services and Regulation Policy Committee on September 12, and if approved will see larger blue bins delivered to every house in the borough and extra items collected.
It is hoped these new, larger recycling bins will help make it easier to recycle paper and card, with the proposal coming as a response to residents’ concerns during a ‘Simpler Recycling’ public consultation.
More than 10,000 people gave feedback to the council, with an overwhelming number claiming that current blue bins simply weren’t big enough.
Proposals will see the current 140-litre blue bin replaced with a 240-litre alternative, with homes given the choice to keep the original for for storage.
As a result of a consultation, councillors will be asked to vote on proposals at a committee meeting next week (12 September), which would see:
> Additional capacity for the collection of paper and card for recycling with a swap of the current 140- litre blue bin to a 240-litre blue bin
> The addition of plastic pots, tubs, trays, aerosols, foil, and cartons into existing brown bins by 31 March 2026
> The addition of plastic films into existing brown bins by 31 March 2027
> Households being able to request additional recycling capacity
Any bins removed would be sent off for re-use or recycling.
Bin collection timetables will remain the same, with black bins collected every two weeks and each recycling bin collected every four weeks.
Content that can be placed into brown bins would see changes as recycling plants across the country are forced to accommodate new materials.
The Separation of Waste Regulations 2024 has stated that plastic pots, tubs, trays, aerosols, foil, and cartons must be recyclable in local authorities nationwide by March 31, 2026.
Plastic films must then be recyclable by the same date in 2027.
Councillor Joe Otten, Chairman of Environmental Services and Regulation Policy Committee at Sheffield City Council, said: “Waste and recycling services affect everyone, and residents have given us a clear message about what they are happy about and what they would like us to change. The views given are in line with the results of our annual customer surveys with residents too, which is reassuring.”
Veolia, who manage waste collection services for the council, have estimated that these changes will cost £7.4 million to implement, which covers expenses like the production and delivery of new bins and the removal of existing ones.
It is then expecting that the additional vehicles, staffing and treatment costs will add £1.6 million to current operations in 2026/27, then 2.87 million in 2027/28 as plastic film recycling options are added.
A report into the matter recommends the committee approve these changes, and states the additional costs will be funded by Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging payments, a scheme which sees business pay a fee for packaging they supply or import into the UK market.
Coun Otten added: “Our focus now will be to assess the proposals as a committee so that we can make a decision and start implementing the changes residents have asked for and that we must make to follow national legislation.
“If the committee agrees the recommendations, not only will we doing what is important to our residents’ individual recycling needs, but it will also mean that everyone in Sheffield will be able to recycle more, helping to improve our planet for current and future generations.
“Adopting these recommendations would increase the effectiveness of our recycling services, allowing Sheffield to take advantage of ongoing Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging payments from central government from 2025/26.”