Fortnight collection plan binned

Newcastle City Council wants to boost recycling rates

Plans for fortnightly bin collections in Newcastle have been dumped after residents gave them the thumbs down.

The city council had been looking at ways of reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill.

One option was alternate collections, with recycled waste collected one week and other household refuse the next.

However, a consultation exercise found that it would be unpopular with local people, and it was dropped. Recycling wheelie bins are now planned.

'Not happy'

Councillor Wendy Taylor, executive member for the environment, said: "We carried out a written consultation exercise and talked to people on the doorstep and it became very clear that Newcastle residents didn't want fortnightly collections.

"One of the things we found is that people were not very happy with black recycling boxes, so we are planning to offer a proper recycling wheelie bin.

"These are self-contained so things don't blow out, and contain more.

"They would also take cardboard, which is one item we haven't been able to collect but which people are keen to recycle."