Today, Monday 6 November, purple bins are being distributed across South Kesteven.

South Kesteven District Council (SKDC) is introducing purple-lidded wheelie bins, following successful rollouts in four other areas of Lincolnshire.

Paper and cardboard (except shredded paper, tissues, or used takeaway boxes which should go in your black bin) can go into your purple-lidded wheeled bin. 

The first collection will take place in February 2024.

Councillor Rhys Baker, Cabinet Member for Environment and Waste, said: "It will mean paper and card can be kept clean, dry and separate from other recycling so it can be sent to a dedicated UK processor.

"The introduction of the purple-lidded bin in other areas of Lincolnshire has proved that collecting paper and cardboard separately is the most efficient and effective method of collecting good quality material for recycling, which we hope residents will support."

He further added that the new scheme would be a significant change for residents, and the council would ensure they are well-informed about the changes.

The initiative has already proven successful in other areas of Lincolnshire, showing that separate collection of paper and cardboard is the most efficient and effective method of collecting good quality material for recycling.

More than 18,183.5 tonnes of separate fibre has been collected since April 2021.

Paper reprocessor Palm Recycling has previously reported that the waste from Lincolnshire was the highest quality material presented to them by any local authority client in the country. The company found that the waste had an average contamination rate of just 1.5%.

Councillor Daniel McNally, Lincolnshire County Council's Executive Member for Waste, said, "Across Lincolnshire we have been looking at ways to try and improve the quality of all the recycling we collect and support our residents to put the right thing in the right bin."

He further emphasised that the goal is to recycle as much waste as possible.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting service that the scheme had gone "really good" so far with the county recycling around 98-99% pure cardboard and paper and contamination ratio rates decreasing by between 15-20%.

The purple bin initiative has not been without controversy. The "tags of shame" system, which was introduced to encourage proper recycling, has been met with mixed reactions from residents.

Some argue that they should not have to do the council's job for them, while others believe the tags are an effective way to educate the public about correct recycling practices.

Councillor McNally said the latter was true as it helped increase communication with residents alongside visits from council staff.

In response to those who questioned why residents were paying council tax to do a service the council should carry out on their behalf, he said: "Everyone has to do their bit for the recycling rate. We're all responsible for it, we can't just pass the buck all the time.

"We have to take some sort of social responsibility."

The scheme has led to a significant improvement in the quality of waste material.

According to a previous report to LCC, the average contamination rate of waste up to February dropped from 31% to just 1.5% since the introduction of the scheme.

In South Kesteven, the scheme will replace one of the existing fortnightly recycling collections, ensuring no increase in mileage and associated carbon emissions of the Council fleet.

The costs would be met by Lincolnshire County Council, which is responsible for disposing of waste across the county, and is set to recoup the costs associated with providing bins in five years.

Both silver bins and purple-lidded bins will be collected every four weeks, as shown on your collection calendar. They will be alternated with black bins as follows:

• Week 1 - black bin
• Week 2 - silver bin
• Week 3 - black bin
• Week 4 - purple-lidded bin (and then back to week 1)

Find out more about the introduction of purple bins here.