Around 5,000 residents in Northern Ireland are set to receive new recycling wheelie bins as part of a trial to improve recycling rates.

The Wheelie Box, developed by social enterprise Bryson Recycling (part of the Bryson Charitable Group) and manufactured by Straight plc using the 3BoxStack model, has already been rolled out to 850 households in Castlereagh and will be adopted by a further 4000 residents in Newtonabbey from the week commencing 12 August.

The system forms part of a year-long trial for Castlereagh residents (to be reviewed after 12 months), while Newtownabbey has labelled the service as a staged overhaul of the recycling system.

Made up of three colour-coded boxes stacked on a trolley, the Wheelie Box can be wheeled to the kerbside and provides extra capacity to allow householders to recycle 11 different materials. Bryson’s Romaquip Kerb-Sort vehicles will carry out the collections.

Bryson Recycling hopes that the scheme, which will allow local residents to recycle eleven different types of materials including cartons and household plastic packaging, will improve local recycling rates and maintain the quality of materials collected.

Speaking of the trial, Councillor Myreve Chambers, Chair of the Castlereagh Council’s Technical & Environmental Services Committee, said: “We currently recycle over 40 per cent of our household waste which is a fantastic achievement for the people of Castlereagh but we need to boost local recycling even more. We have been providing kerbside recycling services for over ten years and are delighted to be at the forefront of this exciting development which will enable residents to recycle even more on a weekly basis.”

Eric Randall, Director of Bryson Recycling, said: “We have listened to what our customers want and made it happen. The Wheelie Box provides extra room for recycling, it is sturdy enough not to be blown over in the wind, has a hinged lid and it is on wheels so it is easy to move.

“The Wheelie Box has also allowed us to extend the range of items that we can collect from households for recycling, especially cartons and plastics which householders have been keen to recycle for many years. The Wheelie Box has enormous potential to be rolled out across the UK, and we are delighted to be at the forefront of this exciting innovation”.

Jonathan Straight, Chief Executive of Straight plc, added: “We have been working for Bryson for a number of years on this project and is it a delight to see it come to fruition with units now being delivered. This is a complicated product that has given us a number of challenges. We have risen to all of them and the early results are very positive indeed”.

Bryson Recycling Contracts

In related news, Donegal County Council has appointed Bryson Recycling to manage and operate the council-owned recycling centres following a public procurement process.

Bryson took over the operation of the centres on the council’s behalf in April of this year and have now secured a three-year contract to manage its six sites located at Letterkenny, Milford, Stranorlar, Carndonagh, Laghey and Dungloe.

Bryson has said it intends to make improvements at all sites so local residents can recycle and dispose materials such as rigid plastics, scrap metal, glass, batteries and waste electrical and electronic devices for free. Disposal of other materials, such as green waste, household waste, paper, cardboard and cartons will also be accepted for recycling, but will incur a fee.

This follows on from news that Bryson Recycling has extended its recycling contract with Armagh City and District Council by another eight-years (with a possible eight-year added extension).

The contract, thought to be worth around £5.6 million, will see Bryson continue to deliver weekly doorstep recycling services to over 22,000 households in the area and has led to the creation of 15 local jobs.

Eric Randall, Director of Recycling for Bryson Recycling, said: “We are delighted to be extending our partnership with Armagh City and District Council and look forward to working with them over the coming years. Armagh residents can be confident that what they put out on the doorstep will be recycled, with over 90 per cent of the materials collected staying in Northern Ireland to be recycled, helping to support local jobs and the economy”.

Lord Mayor of Armagh City and District, Councillor Sharon Haughey-Grimley added: “The Council has been working with Bryson Recycling since 2002 and look forward to continuing to work in partnership with them to provide residents with a quality kerbside recycling service that help boost local recycling levels even further”.

Belfast City Council has also renewed its contact with Bryson Recycling, and will see 55,000 households change the way the put out recyclables for collection. Starting in August of this year, a black box will be rolled out for weekly collection of paper, plastic, drinks cans, aerosols, foil and cotton, while a new red box will be used for the collection of cardboard, glass, textiles, batteries and hand tools (collected for the refurbishment charity, Tools for Solidarity). Food waste and residual waste will also be collected on a weekly basis.

Image: (L-R) Councillor Myreve Chambers, Chair of Castlereagh Council’s Technical & Environmental Services Committee, with Mayor of Castlereagh, Alderman Michael Henderson MBE and Eric Randall, Director of Bryson Recycling.