SOUTH Gloucestershire Council has decided to reintroduce recycling bags for kerbside collections, six years after scrapping them in favour of boxes.
Residents will be able to choose whether to switch to the new bags for plastics, cans and foil, or keep putting them in their green boxes.
A report to the council’s scrutiny commission in October said the 2019 decision to stop providing bags was “unpopular with many residents”.
But opposition Conservatives said bringing bags back was a “retrograde step”.
Currently households are given boxes to separate recycling into, but they aren’t supplied with lids, so on windy days plastics and other recycling is blown across the streets.
The new bags are likely to be delivered when the council begins collecting soft plastics from all households next year.
They can be sealed at the top and are weighted, to stop them blowing away when empty.
The report said: “Most residents do not stack recycling boxes to prevent lightweight plastic, cans and foil from escaping during windy weather.
“The original decision to stop providing recycling bags was unpopular with many residents and may have impacted on their engagement with using boxes and properly separating their recycling.
“The cost of purchasing boxes has significantly increased in recent years, to more than double the cost of recycling bags.”
Previously residents were given three reusable recycling bags – for paper, cardboard, and cans together with plastics – plus a box for glass. In 2019, the council stopped supplying bags and told people to use boxes for all recyclables.
Boxes are easier and safer for binmen to empty, the report said, but many residents don’t correctly separate their recycling. If the wrong items are mixed, the council receives less money when they are recycled and collections take longer, as crews try to pick items out from the wrong boxes.
The report said it will not be “mandatory” for residents to switch to bags if they want to carry on using boxes.
It also noted that the previous plastic recycling bags deteriorated or blew away, and needed to be replaced every year or so.
Cabinet member for communities Sean Rhodes (Lab, Kingswood) said the bags had a capacity of 90 litres, compared with 55 for boxes.
He said: “It’s an optional addition, it comes with additional volume, it comes with a stronger seal, there is a lot to be said for this.”
Cllr Paul Hughes (Con, Bitton & Oldland Common) said bin crews had told him they did not like the bags.
He said: “They say they’re quite hard to deal with. From an operative point of view, it’s a retrograde step.”
Cllr Rhodes said staff feedback from operatives was “positive” towards bags during a trial, despite Cllr Hughes’s “anecdotal” reports.
By Alex Seabrook and Adam Postans, Local Democracy Reporting Service