UK communities testing, rolling out dual-stream recycling

For the past 12 months, about 7,200 households in the United Kingdom’s Lincolnshire County have been testing a curbside dual-stream recycling program where those households separated clean, dry paper and old corrugated containers (OCC) into separate purple recycling bins. According to a news release from Lincolnshire County Council, the county plans to continue separate paper and OCC collection.

“Residents have been simply incredible and have really embraced this new initiative,” says Lincolnshire County Councilor Eddy Poll. “In the trial, we have collected almost 420 [metric tons] of clean, dry paper and card, all which has gone to local and U.K.-based paper mills to be made into paper-based products.

“This has saved many road miles, reduced carbon emissions and created a product which can be reused and recycled again—one of the key objectives from the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership’s strategic plan. As well as only putting paper and card in a separate bag/bin, residents have done a great job of only putting plastic pots, tubs and trays, glass, tin and cans in their recycling bins, significantly reducing the contamination and increasing recycling rates.”

Poll says the trial program will be expanded to all households in Lincolnshire over the next few years.

“We will work with residents to make sure they have the right size containers for their home, and in the run-up to the rollout, the council staff will run engagement sessions and workshops in the community to help residents get the right thing in the right bin,” he says.

The county’s Boston Borough will roll out the paper recycling program in the spring of 20221, followed by North Kesteven in the fall of 2021.