Black Bins In Belfast Could Be Collected Only Once A Month

The size of black bins in Belfast may be reduced or be collected less often.

Belfast City Council is seeking feedback from residents as part of a consultation on the future of waste and recoiling.

The council said it needs to change the current collection systems to meet its target of increasing the city’s recycling rate to 50% by December 2020.

Councillor Kate Nicholl, chair of Belfast City Council's People and Communities Committee, said: "We can't shy away from change when the evidence is stacking up to show that we are not going to meet the required 50% recycling target by 2020.

"We are already spending over £26m each year managing our waste – and by collecting our recyclables more efficiently we could have better quality recycling materials; we could create more jobs, and money spent on managing our waste could be better spent on investment in the city and other Council services.

"Depending on what part of Belfast you live in, you might have a kerbside recycling box collection, or you might have a blue and brown bin for recycling household waste.

"We have done well to raise our recycling rate over the past 10 years to around 44%, however, we have now reached a plateau. Often the blue bin waste we collect contains contaminated items meaning it cannot be recycled locally and needs to be shipped on for sorting and treatment.

"Council is proposing to introduce a weekly recycling collection which would accept a wider range of materials than the current blue bin collection. It would also provide all Belfast residents with a weekly kerbside glass collection, and all food waste would be collected weekly also."

(CD)