Epping Forest District Council has removed all of its plastic and metal bring banks from recycling sites across the district.
According to the council, the number of residents using these two banks at household waste recycling sites accounted for just 0.04 per cent of all recycling content collected by the council, due to a ‘comprehensive’ kerbside collection service.
Ian Almond, Recycling Officer for Epping Forest District Council, told Resource that the reason for removing the bring sites was due to duplicating services.
“We’re going for reorganisation of all bring sites, and as we already do a pretty comprehensive co-mingled kerbside service that already collects materials such as plastic, cans, card, aerosols, etc, it was deemed that there was no real value to duplicating the services for these materials.
“So far, the can and plastic banks have been removed but other banks, for example, glass, textiles and Tetra Pak banks will remain for the moment. There have been proposals to replace the can and plastic banks with small WEEE banks, but that is yet to be decided.”
All can and plastic sites were removed at the end of November.
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There's no easy solution to include glass in the DRS while maintaining a level playing field. Potential approaches include a phased introduction of glass, potentially with higher deposits to reflect its logistical challenges. The government and DMOs could incentivise innovation in glass packaging design and subsidise dedicated return points for glass-handling. Exemptions for smaller businesses unable to handle glass might also be necessary. Any successful solution will likely blend several approaches. It must address the differing priorities of devolved administrations, balance environmental benefits with logistical and cost implications, and be supported by robust consumer education campaigns emphasizing the importance of glass recycling.