We take the black bin bag for granted but city has work to do when it comes to dumping waste
Most of us probably don’t give a second thought to putting the rubbish out. You tie up the bin bag, venture outside – usually in some ill fitting footwear found by the door – and lash it in the wheelie bin.
In the last few years, how we deal with waste has become a big deal. In a bid to protect the environment, sweeping changes have and will continue to be made to where our materials are deposited and the efforts we can make to be cleaner, greener and more responsible.
New documents have now set out just how far Liverpool has to go and the amount it costs to take your leftover curry to the right site safely. Annually, the city council collects more than 192,000 tonnes of household waste from around 240,000 properties, according to a report on the future delivery of Streetscene services across Liverpool.
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This is a combined total from all waste streams collected through the purple, blue and green wheeled bins, communal bins and black sack collections, exceeding the national average. A study identified how 40% of waste thrown away in the purple bin could be composted or recycled.
The cost of transporting this waste and the energy used by the waste plant for incineration is significantly higher than the costs of composting or recycling this waste. In 2021/22 the average Liverpool household produced 635.5 kgs of waste compared to the national average of 501.1kgs per annum, according to the office of local government OfLOG.
The cost of collecting the city’s waste is £12.43m with a further £27.8m spent on processing and disposal through the levy paid to the Merseyside Recycling & Waste Authority. The city’s recycling rate has also been dwindling throughout this period.
The document said levels in 2021/22 stood at an “already poor” rate of 20.4% but have since declined to 17.9% in 2022/23. In comparison with the rest of the Liverpool City Region, Liverpool ranked lowest for recycling rate, around the middle for kgs per household waste produced and significantly below the national average.
These stand at 41.9% recycling rate and 501.1kgs general domestic waste per household. As a result, Liverpool is currently ranked 342 out of 343 English local authorities.
Only 69% of households regularly participate in the city’s recycling service and almost a third place non-recyclable materials in the recycling bins.
The report added: “If the current blue recycling bin was used correctly, the city’s recycling rate could improve to 30%. This may require raising awareness among Liverpool residents of their individual impact on recycling.”
Leaders have also condemned the amount of detritus left on city streets. In the period from May 2023 to May 2024, 4,367 requests for street cleansing were received.
During this time, more than 17,000 enquiries came in regarding fly-tipping, including 3,000 reports of dumped black refuse bags, 1,700 items of furniture, 539 shopping trollies and 1,200 fridge freezers. Between January and September alone, almost 10,000 requests to remove fly tipping were received.
Early in the summer, the city council’s cabinet signed off on almost £1m to increase environmental enforcement to tackle those behind litter and fly tipping. It is expected next week, officials will start the wheels in motion to bring environmental services like street cleaning and waste collection in house.
The report said: “Bringing services which deliver street cleaning and fly tipping with preventative services including enforcement, engagement and education will give the council full control to direct resources to the areas of greatest need to deliver the required improvements to the look and feel of the areas where our residents live.”
It is expected that as the number of households in the city continues each year, without action to promote waste reduction, increase re-use, recycling and composting, council officials expect annual spending on waste collection and disposal will continue to increase.
