City council plans to postpone recycling scheme

A city council plans to oppose a new policy requiring residents to separate paper and cardboard in their recycling.

A report by City of Lincoln Council (CoLC) stated it wanted to defer the decision until 2027, stating that "many properties in Lincoln would struggle to accommodate an extra bin".

Several districts in Lincolnshire have already adopted the twin recycling system in an attempt to reduce contamination.

The policy is part of the government's Simpler Recycling scheme, which is due to come into effect for all households in England from 31 March 2026.

CoLC will discuss the proposal at a policy committee meeting later and is likely to reject it due to the cost and complexity of the change, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The authority said an assessment was carried out in which there were "known issues relating to bins left out on streets" in the city.

The report stated: "Whilst some areas, particularly some of the areas served by 240L bins, could potentially accommodate a paper and card collection, there are good reasons not to do this at this time."

It said there were a "range of other pressures on this service area" and introducing the paper and card collections at this time "would not be wise".

The report also found Lincolnshire's contamination rates have "remained high" and suggested more efforts are made to help people recycle correctly in the city.

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