Replacement charge for wheelie bins

A new policy to charge a fee for replacing household wheelie bins is set to save Norwich City Council tens of thousands of pounds.

From Monday (4 July) the council will be charging £40 for black and blue wheelie bins. Until now these bins had been replaced for free.

Last year the council issued 4,500 free bins at a cost of £140,000.

The new policy aims to save money, deter the widespread ordering of new bins and reduce the number of bins permanently left on streets as more householders make better efforts to store their bins safely and securely.

Cllr Paul Kendrick, cabinet member for waste strategy, said: “This new policy will save money not make money.

“We hope to save at least £60,000 a year, so we won’t recoup all our costs but will be making a strong move in the right direction to save money for the council, which in turn will help us protect other services in the difficult financial climate all local authorities are facing.”

Evidence from 12 other benchmarked councils already charging for bins shows that in reality only a small minority of people are likely to have to pay the new fees as charging systems have been proven to deter people from requesting bins if they don’t actually need them.

According to evidence from these councils, requests for replacement bins could reduce by up to 60 per cent. One authority saw its demand for replacement bins drop from 4,750 to 800 in one year.

Our new £40 fee covers the price of the bin, the council’s administration costs and the delivery costs. This is well in line with charging by other councils.

Indoor and outdoor food waste caddies will still be replaced for free and any bins damaged by bin operatives will also be replaced free of charge. However the new charge will apply to all wheelie bins regardless of the reason they are missing and regardless of size.

This policy does not affect large bulk communal bins but will affect the approximately 50,000 homes in Norwich which have wheelie bins.

Householders are being encouraged to clearly mark their bins with their address and postcode and keep them as securely as possible within the boundary of their property and off the streets.

Cllr Kendrick said: “This is a positive way forward – we are asking householders to play their part and the council will play its part.
“We are confident our proposed charges are fair.

"It is reasonable to ask people to take responsibility for their bins, indeed we know the vast majority of people do this already, and for our part we have a new action plan to ensure householders’ bins are well-handled by our contractors and returned to where they were put out.”

For more information visit www.norwich.gov.uk/binsandrecycling

Order a replacement wheelie bin