Call to cut size of wheelie bins

Fortnightly collections have proved controversial

English councils have been advised to reduce the size of wheelie bins to boost recycling, it has emerged.

Families with smaller bins recycle more rubbish, according to The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP).

But the government-backed quango said councils must issue the same sized bin to all households to avoid "bin envy".

The Tories claims ministers are forcing the measures on local councils with "bully boy" tactics, but the government says the advice is for guidance only.

"It is nonsense to suggest this is a Whitehall diktat. It is advice only.

"If councils are increasing the size of their bins for recycling, they might think about smaller bins for other waste," a spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said.

Over-zealous 'no side collection' policies and shrinking bin sizes threatens to increase fly-tipping and harm the local environment Eric Pickles, Shadow local government secretary Household waste: in statistics

According to a report published last month by WRAP the widespread introduction of 240-litre bins has led to an increase in the amount of rubbish thrown away.

Controversial

It suggests councils switch to European standard 140 or 180-litre bins to encourage households to cut back on waste.

"The priority is to successfully manage capacity: limiting capacity for the activity that you want to discourage," WRAP says in its report.

The guidance came in a report last month on the implementation of "Alternate Weekly Collection" (AWC) schemes, which have been adopted by around 180 councils across the UK.

AWC sees recycling waste taken one week, and other household waste collected the next.

The aim is to reduce the amount of waste going into landfill sites - part of the government's commitment to meet EU targets but it has proved controversial in some parts of the country.

"AWC is not appropriate for all authorities and whether to adopt it must be a decision for local councils in the light of their local circumstances and the views of their electors," says the WRAP document.

'Bin envy'

The introduction of fortnightly collections, coupled with kerbside collections of recyclable items like glass, cans and newspapers, has contributed towards a reduction in rubbish going to landfill from a typical 12-15kg weekly to 17-22kg fortnightly per household, says the report.

Any council introducing smaller bins will have to decide whether to issue the same size bin to every household or to provide larger containers to families, who can be expected to produce more rubbish, the report adds.

It warns that giving different sized bins to different properties risks inciting "bin envy" between neighbours.

Shadow local government secretary Eric Pickles warned that a switch to smaller bins could lead to householders leaving bags of rubbish alongside their full wheelie-bins, something which is punishable with fines of up to £1,000.

Mr Pickles said: "I am alarmed that an unelected Whitehall quango is trying to cajole town halls into curtailing the frequency and scope of local rubbish collections.

"There is already concern over plans for new bin taxes and how financial pressures are forcing cuts to weekly collections.

"Now Labour's bully-boys want to impose smaller Euro-style bins on top of this, backed up with unfair fines for putting a rubbish bag next to over-flowing bins.

"Yet over-zealous 'no side collection' policies and shrinking bin sizes threaten to increase fly-tipping and harm the local environment."