76% of local households say they want to switch from bags to wheelie bins for waste and recycling collections in a borough-wide consultation.
Milton Keynes Council's current contract for waste collection is set to end in 2023. MKC is currently a Labour-led Council, and the group pledges that wheelie bins will be rolled out to all households across the city should the group retain control of the council in May's local election.
This has led to some controversy, a decision which some councillors and residents disagree with, but the Council says that the response to wheelie bins has been mostly positive.
As well as holding the consultation, which ended in January and received almost 5,000 responses, Milton Keynes Council has worked with residents in 3,000 homes around Milton Keynes on a five-month waste collection pilot.
Wheeled bins and boxes were trialled in a wide range of home and garden types to learn what works from a practical perspective. Residents participating in the trial were also asked for their feedback. The decision also confirms that those residents on the trial will be able to keep and use the bins during this transition period.
The findings from the pilot and the consultation will inform a decision to be made on 23rd March on the way forward for Milton Keynes’ waste and recycling collections.
Should the Labour group retain control of the council, ahead of the switch to wheelie bins, the council will be working with residents to develop solutions where wheelie bins cannot be stored.
Cllr Emily Darlington, Cabinet Member for the Public Realm, said: “The pilot has given us a thorough look into the impact of wheeled bins, not just whether people like one method more than another but also whether it improves how we recycle.
"Our next step is to work with residents where wheelie bins won’t work ahead of rolling out the bins to the whole city with the next contract after 2023. Our goal is to make MK cleaner, greener and safer for all residents.”
Milton Keynes Council says that the city has one of the highest recycling rates in the UK. It was one of the first places to introduce kerbside recycling collections and the first to build its own local recycling plant.
The local authority now wishes to make Milton Keynes "one of the greenest places to live". The Council hopes this will be achieved by setting targets for waste collection including cleaner streets with reduced spillage, increasing recycling levels, and reducing its carbon footprint during waste collection.
