Residents will be able to recycle more plastic in expanded green bin service

Councillors Naheed Mather and Will Simpson show Kirklees residents which new plastics can go in their bins from March 31

Thanks in part to the council's new interim contract with its recycling and waste management partner, SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK, plastic pots, tubs and trays will be able to join plastic bottles, paper, card and tins in residents’ green bins from March 31.

Items that could become recyclable include yoghurt pots, margarine tubs and food trays among many other items that residents will be informed about before collections start.

During the recycling process, plastics are granulated into plastic chips, and then turned into new products such as plastic chairs, benches and plant pots.

The move is just a small part of the council’s long-term strategy to see Kirklees become a leading light among local authorities when it comes to waste reduction.

The ability to manage the additional plastics in this way will have a two-fold benefit, as it should both improve recycling rates and substantially reduce the amount of contamination in green bins, which can lead to whole loads being incinerated instead of recycled.

Coun Naheed Mather, cabinet member for environment at Kirklees Council, said: “This move is just a small part of our ambitious plans for waste management in Kirklees.

"Last year we approved our Resource and Waste Strategy that sets out a plan which covers the next eight years.

"This includes bringing in changes to our waste management services such as this one, opening a reuse shop in the centre of Huddersfield, and extending opening hours at our household waste recycling centres in the summer months.

"We have one simple ambition and that is to make it easier for residents to reduce as much of their waste as possible.”

SUEZ’s Nick Browning said: “We are delighted that by extending our partnership for a further two years, we will be able to recycle even more material and continue to divert the vast majority of Kirklees’s waste away from landfill.”

Collections of pots, tubs and trays will start on March 31 following a district-wide information campaign that aims to inform residents, businesses and schools of exactly what plastics can be put in the green bins.