The bins are solar compacting and are fitted with smart sensors to detect how full the bin is, meaning they can capture more waste and need to be emptied less often. They also feature clear instructions to make it easier for people to know what to put in the recycling bin.
The campaign, Lambeth #InTheLoop, will make it as easy as possible for Lambeth residents and visitors to recycle empty glass, plastic bottles, cans, and so improve local recycling rates.
Coffee cups will be collected separately in a small-scale trial in Brixton using new dedicated cup recycling bins. Coffee cups have a unique blend of paper and a plastic coating, meaning they need their own separate collection to be recycled properly.
Cllr Rezina Chowdhury, Cabinet Member for Sustainable Lambeth and Clean Air, said: “These new smart bins give us all more opportunities to recycle our rubbish when we’re out and about in the borough. We all want to do our bit when it comes to being environmentally friendly, and this is another way to easily contribute.
“Using these new bins will also help keep our streets cleaner.
“In Lambeth the number of local people that are recycling at home has gone up over the last year, with the borough becoming the best in inner London. Let’s all try and match that by using these new bins to recycle more when we’re out of the house.”
#InTheLoop is Hubbub’s collaborative project to boost recycling on-the-go and make it easy for people to recycle drinks materials while out and about – with the ultimate goal of reducing waste by encouraging switching to reusables.
With busy schedules people in the UK are eating and drinking a huge amount more whilst on the go. With this comes a lot of packaging, with roughly 13 billion plastic bottles, nine billion drinks cans and nearly three billion coffee cups used every year in the UK. Lots of this packaging isn’t currently recycled.
A recent waste study conducted by Hubbub and Lambeth Council reveals that only six in 10 plastic bottles, glass or cans ended up in the borough’s recycling bins. This project is one of several new approaches to tackling litter that Lambeth Council is launching across the borough in a bid to make it a cleaner and greener.
