It may shock a number of people to learn that when Tameside Council rolled out Bin Swap in September (although I full agreed with the environmental and financial implications) I was some what nervous. 

My partner and I both work from home, we have 3 cats, and whilst we have no children - we do create a lot of waste. Like many we would always fill the black/grey bin, we would usually fill our blue bin (paper), half fill the green bin (glass) and regularly filled the brown bin (garden & food).

The week of BinSwap rolled around and we filled the green bin. I thought “Damn, what do I do now” ... the answer was to recycle everything I could & anything left would have to wait.

One evening that week Sarah and I discovered a tip to recycling more, and it not only worked but seriously helped to change our mindset. We were the “black bin will do” and are now “recycling everything” people. What we discovered was these three colour-coded kitchen bins (you can get 4 but we have a brown caddie).

Having these in the kitchen made the whole problem of recycling immediately less of a handful. Just as with putting potato peelings in the brown food caddie whilst cooking, we could now tear up boxes for the blue bin, putting plastics lids and foil in the red (for the black bin) and anything else really in the green bin.

What was the result of these 3 bins that cost £26?

The green bin is half full (at most!) for the past 2 green bin collections.

We completely fill the black bin with plastics, we suspect this was what we filled the old general bin with.

We now have another blue bin for paper and cardboard, our work means that we do generate a lot of paper waste.

And our Brown bin continues to be used as it ever has.

Tameside Bin Swap - Saving Council Services by Recycling More

Tameside Council have had massive cuts since 2010, £142M to be precise - and we need to find (at least) another £38 Million between 2015 and 2017! That is over 50% in government funding cut to Tameside Council from this uncaring government. 

Vital council services, such as adult social care and services for looked after children, because of these cuts from government in danger of yet further cuts - this effects us all in Tameside. One way in which Tameside Labour has found to save money and help save these key services is free, its called the Bin Swap - and this video explains more about the bin swap.

The idea is simple: Households swap the use of Green and Black Bins.

This means more space for recycling glass, plastics and metals - and a reduction in general waste which goes to land fill. The huge amount we send to land fill costs tax payers £12M a year, with bin swap this can be reduced by 25% (£3M) each and every year. 

This simple idea is similar to the scheme used by neighboring Stockport Council successfully - and both their recycling figures and from Tameside Council bin swap trials show that more recycling really does save money and which will help protect services.

Tameside Bin Swap FAQ’s:

Q: I am missing a recycling bin, how do I get a new one? A: You can order a new bin, for free, by completing this form online - it should arrive within around a week. The council has delivered over 9,200 new bins since April.

Q: Do I have to give you a bin back? A: This is a common misconception, Bin Swap is not about delivering new bins (which would cost lots of money) it is simply swapping the use of 2 bins to allow for more recycling capacity.

Q: I have large family, How will I cope? A: It’s understandable there will be concerns over how well Bin Swap will work for your household. However it’s worth noting that during bin swap trials in Tameside over the past year have shown that only a very small number of households need extra capacity following the bin swap. If you have a large household (more than 6 people) or after a few weeks of Bin Swap you are struggling you can ask for an extra bin via this webpage. http://www.tameside.gov.uk/binswap/exceptionalcircumstances

Q: When will Bin Swap start? A: Bin Swap will roll out very shortly, the week it rolls out the council will empty both bins - its from this point your Bin Swap has begun. You’ll also receive a letter about this.

Q: How much of our council tax pays for our waste services? A: In addition to staffing cost, vehicle costs etc we pay £17M+ in tax and levies to the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority - £12M of this is for land fill cost (the section we can make big savings in).

Still confused by Bin Swap or have questions?