Denbighshire says it will partly fund its new doorstep recycling scheme by selling its current crop of ‘old’ bins as scrap plastic  –  despite some residents currently paying £45 for those bins.

The council will introduce its new system in 2023, which will see a weekly recycling service and a four-weekly refuse collection. 

The new recycling scheme was due to be implemented earlier but was delayed by the pandemic. But the new set of bins will include stackable crates for recycling, similar to what is being used in neighbouring Conwy. 

Denbighshire defended its current policy of charging residents up to £45 for new or replacement bins.

This also sparked fears that Denbighshire could charge residents for lost or damaged bins when the ‘old’ bins are due to be collected and replaced in 2023.  

Whilst a spokesman for Denbighshire County Council said these would not be charged for,  he outlined the authority’s money-making plans.

He said: “Any bins not required for the new service will be collected from residents when we exchange that bin for the container they need on the new system.  

“This will be done free of charge. 

“The majority of bins we recover will be dismantled and recycled. There is a small ‘scrap’ value to the material which fluctuates between £1 and £3 per bin depending on the markets at the time. We intend to fund the operation of recovery of the bins through the income that we get from the sale of the scrap material. 

“We will have to recover all black bins from households that are entitled to a larger black bin to make sure households have the correct capacity. 

“We will seek to recover blue bins from all households as these will not be part of the future recycling system.  However, some households may wish to keep their blue bin and use it for storage so residents will be able to opt out of the free recovery service we will offer at the time of issuing trolley boxes.  

“We are also hoping to promote conversion kits, so blue bins can be transformed into a water butt, as a greener solution to just recycling the blue bin.  

“There will be no charge to households who have no bin, or a damaged bin, at the time of the bin being recovered.”