From Thursday, January 1, Cherwell residents will be able to throw away their glass in the blue recycling bin.
It ends over 30 years of people taking their glass to banks and brings the council service in line with the government’s new ‘simpler recycling’ legislation.
This was given the green light on November 4 by Cherwell District Council’s cabinet members.
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In November, councillor Ian Middleton, cabinet member for neighbourhood services, said: “The collection of glass from the kerbside is one of the most requested changes to our recycling service, and we have been listening.
“This change will make it faster and more convenient for residents to recycle whilst reducing the problems associated with bottle banks.
“The reality is that these have attracted litter and fly-tipping, with the taxpayer having to pick up the costs of the clear-up.
Councillor Ian Middleton (Image: Contributed)
“So not only are we making glass recycling easier for our residents, we’re also planning to remove over 100 bottle banks to keep the district tidy and help prevent fly-tipping.
“The added benefit of introducing this service just after the holiday season is that all those bottles of festive cheer will be easier than ever to dispose of, once they’re empty of course.”
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Introducing a kerbside glass collection is expected to increase the district’s overall recycling rate by one to 1.5 per cent, adding 500 to 700 tonnes of glass per year to the recycling stream.
Glass collected from Cherwell residents’ blue bins will be separated from other dry recycling by machines at a sorting centre.
The large pieces will be sorted by colour for further processing, whilst smaller pieces are used for road aggregate or shot blasting material.
The glass bring banks located around the district will be removed gradually as part of ongoing improvements, says Cherwell District Council.