Tariq Mahmood, Keep Blackburn Tidy, Sally Booth, BwD Education Recycling Officer, Janet Pearce Keep Darwen Tidy with BwDs Maggie Holt
Published Friday 14 February 2020 at 8:47
Blue bins for separate paper and cardboard recycling collections are set to be wheeled out to Blackburn and Darwen homes.
Residents would still get a weekly collection of one of their bins and collection days will remain the same to avoid confusion.
For those homes where storage of an extra bin will be an issue, it is proposed that specialist recycling blue bags will be offered as an alternative option.
The bins will be delivered this summer if proposals are given the green light at next week’s Finance Council.
Recycling is the single most practical thing you can do to make a difference to help protect the environment whilst dealing with climate change.
In Blackburn and Darwen we have some of the lowest recycling rates in the country.
At the moment just 30% of our waste is being recycled. Find out more about what the Council is doing about recycling and climate change.
This is a local and national problem but we want to be much better and have set a target to recycle 50% of our waste by 2025. We can only do this if we make important changes by making it easier to recycle.
The blue recycling wheelie bin will mean residents can separate paper and cardboard from what is currently mixed with glass, tins and plastics.
This means the paper and card is kept dry and won’t be contaminated by unwashed items and broken glass preventing it going to landfill.
The reason it’s important to keep the materials dry is because it has more commercial value than when it is wet.
It has also recently appointed a new Environmental Education Officer to help reduce waste and also increase recycling rates in the borough.
Blackburn with Darwen Council’s Environmental Education Officer Sally Booth has been working with schools and communities about the difference they can make. She said:
“My job is to help people and I do believe most people care and want to do the right thing to help limit the impact on the environment. Recycling right is something that everybody can do to make a difference.”
The Council is working with volunteers on a high profile campaign to help educate and increase recycling rates. The project also aims to slash the amount of rubbish going into expensive and environmentally damaging landfill – which can take up to 450 years or more to degrade.
Tony Watson, Blackburn with Darwen Council’s Head of Environment and Operations, said:
“We know that the vast majority of people in our borough want to recycle properly. We know it’s confusing and we want to make it as simple as possible.
“We are going to work closely residents who have limited storage space to make sure they can recycle and for some this will mean using the blue bag.
“We want to help people in our efforts to protect the environment and ultimately give residents better value for money.”