Soft plastic recycling scheme expands

I AM delighted that every house in South Gloucestershire will soon be able to have their softplastic recycling waste collected at the kerbside, following our successful campaign.

Thousands of homes across Chipping Sodbury are already part of the trial, which is seeing items such as plastic bags, cling film, bread bags and crisp packets collected, along with the other weekly recycling collections.

More than 1,000 bags of material are being collected from residents in Chipping Sodbury and other local villages every week, reducing the amount sent to landfill.

This initial success has helped us make the case that houses in Wickwar, Old Sodbury, Hawkesbury Upton, Badminton, Acton Turville, Horton, Little Sodbury, Yate and the remaining houses in Chipping Sodbury should also have their soft plastic collected, along with the other recycling, every week.

The national trial is helping to inform the Government and industry how soft plastic waste can be added to existing household recycling collection services, with plans to introduce consistent collections for all households in England in 2027.

Too many residents in our community have found it difficult to access soft plastic recycling, so when the opportunity came along, we submitted a bid to the Government which centred around South Gloucestershire’s impressive record for recycling rates, and the region’s mix of urban areas and rural villages, which will be perfect for softplastic recycling.

We launched a community petition, and I held a debate in Parliament, pressing the need for our community to be part of the scheme. I also met with the Minister for Nature Recovery and the Domestic Environment to hammer home the point that there is strong local demand for soft plastic recycling.

I am grateful to everyone who supported our campaign to make this happen; by signing my petition, supporting the debate in Parliament, and backing the application from the local council.

Delivering soft-plastic recycling is a key part of our positive plan for the Environment in South Gloucestershire.

It will help boost our local recycling rate, and reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill.

I am determined to see through a full roll-out of this scheme to every house in South Gloucestershire.