Council bid to clean-up kerbside clutter

A PILOT scheme has been launched to clean up kerbside clutter and remove abandoned wheelie bins in Warrington’s residential areas.
The scheme, which has been trialled in Orford, has so far removed 52 abandoned bins, helping to keep the neighbourhood tidier.
Each year the council receives complaints from neighbours of residents who leave their bins out and don’t return them to their properties. Leaving bins off your property often leads to an accumulation of other wheelie bins and rubbish bags being left. This makes shared residential spaces unclean and often acts as a magnet for vermin. In some areas, bins that have been left out have been stolen or become a target for arsonists.
To tackle this, council officers have been letter-dropping to homes with advice about the new bin policy, which makes it easier to tackle persistent, untidy areas. The policy reminds residents to only put wheelie bins out for collection day and to make sure all waste and recycling is in the correct bin with the lid closed.
To support the new policy, officers have also been following up with a series of house-to-house visits asking residents to keep their wheelie bins on their properties. For any remaining bins that are still abandoned, officers tape down bin lids with stickers with a final warning that the bins will be removed if not stored away. In the following weeks, if the bins still haven’t been moved, they are taken away by the council.
Cllr Judith Guthrie, cabinet member for environment and public protection, said: “The ultimate aim of this trial is to ensure we keep residential areas clean. The vast majority of residents keep their bins on their properties when it’s not collection day, but we know there are certain neighbourhoods that we need to focus on.
“I want to reassure residents that we will be rolling out this project in other areas of Warrington to help tackle the issue of abandoned bins and residual waste. We have limited resources but we’re committed to supporting residents to keep their streets tidy.
“Our aim is not to punish those who might have forgotten to return their bin to their property one week, but to ensure that we remove bins that have genuinely been abandoned and take action against persistent offenders.
“We can all play our part to keep streets tidy and our neighbourhoods looking appealing. You can help officers by labelling bins with your house number and making sure they’re on your property when not being emptied.
“With a ‘count me in’ attitude we can ensure that our residential spaces can be enjoyed and one of the easiest steps for us to take is ensuring that our bins are stored appropriately.”
Abandoned bins that have been collected by the council are broken down, granulated and compounded so that they can be re-used back into recycled plastic parts.
If you want to report any instances of abandoned bins or waste, go to warrington.gov.uk/report.