The locations of where thousands more recycling wheelie bins will be trialled in the Harrogate district have been revealed.

Harrogate Borough Council is testing out the blue-lidded bins as a replacement for black boxes which residents complain are not big enough and result in recycling being blown across streets during bad weather.

The Appleby estate in Knaresborough was chosen as the first area for the trial and now more locations have been revealed.

Cllr Sam Gibbs, cabinet member for environment, waste reduction and recycling at the council, said around 2,000 bins have already been rolled out and that 880 more in Bilton and 1,800 in Ripon will follow this month.

He also said 2,000 will be introduced in the Harlow Hill and Arthurs Avenue areas of Harrogate in August.

When questioned how the trial is going, Cllr Gibbs told a council meeting that residents seemed “very happy” with the changes, although there had been some issues with items including a bouncy castle and petrol cans being incorrectly placed in the bins.

Cllr Gibbs said: 

“One thing we pride ourselves on as a council is the low contamination rates of our recycling which has enabled us to recoup as much money as possible.

“Whether this trial is a success or not will depend on the cleanliness and contamination rates of the recycling that we collect.

“So far, albeit from a very small sample size, things are looking good.”

Read more:

• Harrogate council to trial recycling wheelie bins
• Harrogate council responds to calls for recycling wheelie bins

Recycling that contains contamination – including the wrong items or food waste – costs more to dispose of and the recycled material produced can be of lower quality.

The new wheelie bins can be used to recycle glass bottles, jars, tin cans, foil, food and drink cartons, and plastic bottles and tubs.

Blue bags for recycling paper, card and cardboard will continue to be used.

However, these will be replaced with heavy-duty bags for those properties that don’t have them.

The first wheelie bins were delivered to homes on Appleby estate in Knaresborough today in a trial that could see a new recycling system rolled out across the Harrogate district.

After years of uncovered recycling being blown across the streets on windy days, Harrogate Borough Council finally announced this month it would introduce blue-lidded wheelie bins.

The wheelie bins, which replace the old black boxes, will be used for glass bottles and jars, tin cans and foil, food and drink cartons, plastic bottles and tubs.

Blue bags will continue to be used for recycling paper, card and cardboard.

The council chose Appleby estate, which has around 200 houses, to test the new system and today saw the first batch of wheelies bins delivered and the old black boxes taken away.

If the trial is a success, the black boxes will soon become a thing of the past in the district.

The Stray Ferret visited the estate today to witness the new system being introduced and to speak to residents.

Numerous people told us they were pleased to be given an “upgrade”, adding the main positives were no longer having to pick up rubbish that has blown out of the boxes and having more capacity to recycle.

Paul Clayton, who lives on Appleby Avenue, said:

“Especially in this cul-de-sac it can be quite windy so rubbish often flies about. The only concern is will they be emptied as regularly but other than that it’s all a plus.”

Read more:

• Cake, cards and cava for Knaresborough couple marking 65 years of marriage
• ‘Oyez! Oyez! Oyez!’: Knaresborough’s town crier ready for special jubilee weekend

The first wheelie bin collection will be in two weeks but the early indications were overwhelmingly positive.

Mr Smithson, who also lives on Appleby Avenue, said:

“Everybody here is really pleased to be told we would be the first in the trial, we take a lot of care around here. It’s a nice place to live and we look after it.”

Harrogate Borough Council is to trial a scheme to replace black recycling boxes with wheelie bins this month.

The Appleby estate in Knaresborough has been chosen as the first area to trial the wheelie bins due to the amount and quality of the recycling presented by residents.

Recent articles by the Stray Ferret have highlighted concerns by residents about the amount of recycling left out for collection blown across streets.

They prompted many people to call on the council to introduce wheelie bins with lids.

The new blue-lidded wheelie bin will replace the black box and will be used for glass bottles and jars, tin cans and foil, food and drink cartons, plastic bottles and tubs.

Blue bags for recycling all paper, card and cardboard will continue to be used. However, these will be replaced with heavy-duty bags for properties that don’t have them.

Read more:

• Video contradicts Harrogate council’s claim about wheelie bins and recycling
• Harrogate council to trial recycling wheelie bins

Residents in this area will receive a letter this week explaining what they need to do. Collection days will remain the same.

The council will collect black boxes when they deliver the wheelie bins. These will either be reused for other residents or recycled, depending on their condition.

Concerns over contamination rates

Councillor Andy Paraskos, the council’s cabinet member for environment, waste reduction and recycling, said:

“For some time we’ve been looking at how we could improve our kerbside scheme as we know residents are increasingly conscious of the environment and have been recycling more, which is fantastic.

“But before we roll out wheelie bins across the Harrogate district, we have decided to first carry out a trial with a number of properties to ensure that what we achieve with the current system is replicated.”

In some instances, using wheelie bins for recycling can lead to higher contamination rates, so the council will use data from the trial to decide what to do across the Harrogate district.

Cllr Paraskos added:

“Our recycling is clean, high-quality and easily accepted at the processing sites so we’d like to say a massive thank you to the residents for always going above and beyond to help us and our crews.

“We need to ensure switching to wheelie bins doesn’t change this, as the better our recycling the easier it is sort and process.

“In some collection areas, not all residents are as conscientious about what they put in the wheelie bin. Resulting in higher contamination rates and much of the recycling having to be disposed of either through incineration or landfill.”

Other areas will join the trial in the coming month.

Harrogate Borough Council has announced it will trial the use of wheelie bins for recycling, just days after appearing to pour cold water on the idea.

Recent articles by the Stray Ferret have highlighted concerns by residents about the amount of recycling left out for collection blown across streets.

They prompted many people to call on the council to introduce wheelie bins with lids.

However, a spokesperson for the council suggested this month it might not be possible. They said wheelie bins could lead to “higher contamination rates”, adding:

“Another challenge we would need to overcome is the wagons used for collection. At the moment they cater for black boxes so any change would require adaptation of the fleet.”

Last week, The Stray Ferret published a video that appeared to contradict the council’s claim.

The video showed council workers emptying recycling from black boxes into garden waste wheelie bins and then into the refuse trucks.

After showing the footage to the council, a spokesperson said it had 10 bin lorries and only two could operate wheelie bins.

This photo posted on Facebook by Christina Clarkson highlighted the problem.

Following this article, a source contacted the Stray Ferret to say the council was introducing 7,000 recycling wheelie bins in unspecified pilot areas across the district and was unsure why the council was not being upfront about this.

This was confirmed yesterday by David Houlgate, branch secretary of the public sector trade union Unison, who said the move was “long overdue”.

Read more:

• Video contradicts Harrogate council’s claim about wheelie bins and recycling
• Harrogate council responds to calls for recycling wheelie bins

Mr Houlgate said wheelie bins would be introduced for tins, cans, glass and plastic. Paper and card would still be collected in blue bags.

The Stray Ferret asked the council about this yesterday. The council did not reply but instead released a statement on social media today saying “we will be launching a trial scheme to replace black recycling boxes with wheelie bins” this year. It said:

“For some time we’ve been looking at how we could improve our kerbside scheme. We’ll be trialling the wheelie bins in certain areas with different types of properties, areas of high recycling rates, and will use the data to influence an approach later in the year.pilots are underway.”

The full statement is below.

We know you are increasingly conscious of the environment and have been recycling more year on year.

Later in the year (date to be confirmed) we will be launching a trial scheme to replace black recycling boxes with wheelie bins.

Find out more below… ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/qGBxAjcLnI

— Harrogate Borough Council (@Harrogatebc) February 23, 2022