Can litter bins improve on-the-go recycling in the UK?

Improving recycling-on-the-go is a key factor in increasing recycling rates across the UK.  Having on the street recycling enables people to dispose of items like newspapers, bottles or cans responsibly whilst away from home or the workplace. However, while figures show that thanks to council action recycling in homes and businesses has steadily increased over the last decade, recycling facilities in public places such as high streets and parks are still in woefully short supply.

A shortage of recycling facilities

This is a key issue in the drive to increase recycling: if there are no recycling bins available, people will usually just dispose of their rubbish in the nearest bin – and a valuable opportunity for recycling is lost. People are increasingly well informed about the importance of recycling and some of the people we speak with express frustration at the lack of recycling litter bins available in their area. 
Our experience has been backed up by the finding s of a new survey carried out by not-for-profit group RECycling Of Used Plastics Limited (RECOUP) which concluded that that the on-the-go collection infrastructure in the UK is currently inadequate.

RECOUP Survey findings

The survey of 100 local authorities across the UK found that on-the-go recycling is failing on three counts: high levels of contamination; inadequate budget for consumer communications and education and the burden of procurement, maintenance and collection costs. 

How to improve recycling on-the-go

Getting the public to recycle on-the-go is all about providing easily visible and functional recycling facilities, placed in the right locations. WRAP research shows that there are barriers that prevent people from always making the best use of recycling facilities: 

• An assumption that there will be inadequate provision
• Poor signage
• Assumed inconvenience involved with recycling
• Lack of recognition of the facilities provided.

As such, factors like location of units, materials to be collected, aperture shapes and sizes, signage and colour schemes are critical to improving a council’s recycling levels.

Outdoor on-the-go recycling bins

Amberol makes it easier for people to recycle and for local authorities to meet recycling targets by providing a wide range of both indoor and outdoor public bins. 

Our outdoor on-the-go recycling bins have specially shaped apertures for bottles and paper to encourage recycling. Amberol’s clear, WRAP approved signage and colour coding encourage people to recycle and dispose of waste responsibly. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes to fit any space. 

Interested in finding out more? Browse our outdoor on-the-go recycling bins here or call Amberol on 01773 830 930.