Wheeled recycling bins for 63,000 York homes

Tens of thousands of York homes could get a pair of wheeled bins for recycling collections instead of the "three box" system most households currently use.

Leading members of Labour-run City of York Council are expected to approve the switch when they meet next week.

A public consultation, which attracted in excess of 13,000 responses, found more than 63% of responses said changing to a wheeled bins would make recycling easier.

Jenny Kent, senior councillor responsible for the environment, said: "These proposals would give households more capacity to recycle, help keep our streets cleaner, improve safety for residents and staff, and make sure York is ready for future recycling requirements."

Council officials said the new system, which would see the recycling bins emptied on an alternating two-week cycle, was "unlikely" to be in place before summer 2027.

Household waste and garden waste collections would stay the same, with bins emptied every two weeks.

The proposals mean some York houses having four wheeled bins; one for household waste, one for paper and card, another for tins, plastic and glass and, if the householder has subscribed to that service, one for garden waste.

A council report said about 63,000 homes, 16,000 of them terraces, could move to wheeled recycling bins in the first phase.

The council said another 10,000 terraced properties, mainly in areas where storage space was limited, would need "further assessment" before any changes were made.

"We know wheeled bins will not work for every property in the same way, especially some terraced homes. That is why we will continue to work with residents to find practical solutions where there are storage concerns," Kent said.

Officials said one of residents' main concerns, raised during the consultation, was litter from recycling boxes being blown onto the streets on windy days.

The review also found health and safety benefits, the council said, as wheeled bins were easier to move than recycling boxes and would reduce the amount of lifting, carrying and bending by residents and collection crews.

"In the calendar year of 2024, 1281 absence days were recorded as musculoskeletal related. In the 2025 calendar year, 1386 absence days were recorded as musculoskeletal related," a report to next week's council meeting said.

The report recommended switching the 63,000 properties to the wheeled bin system, and that the council agrees to borrow the £2.8m needed to cover the cost of the change.

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