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The update was provided by Rebecca Wilson, waste and recycling engagement team leader at the council, speaking at the North East Recycling Forum (NERF) conference on 28 September at Morpeth county hall, Northumberland.
Paid for by the £2.9m Flexible Plastic Fund set up by the Ecosurety packaging waste compliance scheme, FlexCollect says it will implement a series of “innovative flexible plastic packaging household collection and recycling pilots” (see letsrecycle.com story).
The project was launched May 2022, and nine local authorities joined the trail including Newcastle city council and Cheltenham. The trial comes ahead of the expected requirement for local authorities to collect films under the consistent collections’ regime from 2027.
Successes
Newcastle city council began the collection trial in July 2023. Ms Wilson reported that since then, one of the key highlights of taking part in this trial was the low levels of contamination found within the recycling bags. Ms Wilson said this reflects a conscious effort by the community to embrace the recycling program and ensure it functions smoothly.
Furthermore, she reported there have been no reports of recycling bags being left outside bins or any urgent requests for additional recycling capacity, showcasing the community’s commitment to making the scheme work.
Ms Wilson added that resident feedback for the trial has been “overwhelmingly positive”, with emails, accolades at community events and commendations across social media platforms all being received.
Commingled
Newcastle city council was one of the first local authority to initiate a comingled recycling collection service, utilising specially designed survival bags distributed to every household, Ms Wilson explained. She added that this service was rolled out to 5,036 households in the eastern part of Newcastle.
The council’s approach included the introduction of trial rounds for waste segregation, a simple operational change that had a “significant impact”. Their commitment is further evidenced by their plans to expand the program to an additional 2,200 households this month, with the ultimate goal of reaching 25% of households, totalling 32,000 by early next year.
To ensure maximum engagement, the council utilised WRAP’s communications and a three-step plan, employing cover letters and nudge communication leaflets delivered directly to households via Royal Mail.
Confidence
The scheme’s progress was also discussed by Gareth Morton, discovery manager at Ecosurety and FPF FlexCollect project lead for the Flexible Plastic Fund speaking at the LARAC conference last week.
He expressed optimism about the project, envisioning that materials recovery facilities (MRFs) will ultimately handle flexible plastic packaging efficiently. He emphasised the need to work closely with MRFs to assess collection methods.
“In the end, MRFs will get there,” Mr Morton said. He stressed that procrastination is not the answer and that a clear timetable is crucial for success.
He echoed Ms Wilson on receiving positive feedback on the trials, by adding: “It has proven very popular. We’re getting good participation. We’re avergaging something like 300 grams per bag, which is what we were expecting. Participation has been good and actrually higher than we expected. But, it’s worth noting that is still only half of the material that’s been put out on the market, so there is a long way to go.”
