Separate paper and card collections for 68,000 households in South Kesteven could begin as early as February 2024.
From early February 2024, the South Kesteven District Council in Lincolnshire will collect paper and cardboard separately from the rest of the domestic household recycling. The 68,000 households across South Kesteven are to receive information packs explaining how their recycling collections are about to change.
Once the scheme begins, households will be required to dispose of paper and cardboard in new purple-lidded bins. South Kesteven says the uncontaminated dry paper and card will then be taken to a dedicated paper mill for recycling into paper-based products.
Households in South Kesteven currently place waste paper and card in the silver recycling bin. The council says this often means it is mixed with other materials and can become contaminated with food waste, liquid, or broken glass.
The project follows the implementation of this new collection scheme across North Kesteven, Boston Borough, West Lindsey and East Lindsey local authorities.
Because some people put the wrong materials in their recycling bin, it can mean that paper and card contaminated.
The scheme is planned to replace one of the council’s existing fortnightly recycling collections to avoid an increase in carbon emissions from the Council’s fleet. Lincolnshire County Council, which is responsible for disposing of waste across the county, are funding the scheme.
Cabinet Member for Environment and Waste, Councillor Rhys Baker, commented: “Because some people put the wrong materials in their recycling bin, it can mean that paper and card contaminated with liquids or food has to be disposed of rather than recycled.
“The introduction of the purple-lidded bin in other areas of Lincolnshire has proved that collecting paper and cardboard separately is the most efficient and effective method of collecting good quality material for recycling, which we hope residents will support.”
South Kesteven says a report to SKDC’s Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee found contamination rates for all of the materials collected for recycling had dropped from around 30% to 15% where the scheme has already been implemented in other parts of Lincolnshire.
The report also found that 82% of households who responded to a feedback survey said they be happy to continue with the separate collection of paper and card beyond the trial.
