Milton Keynes City Council is hiring an enforcement officer to make sure residents are using their bins correctly.
From next Monday (4 September), Milton Keynes' brand new waste collection service will begin.
Milton Keynes City Council is hiring a wheelie bins enforcement officer to investigate offences and issue fixed penalty notices.
According to government guidance, there is a default fine of £200, with a maximum fine of £400, if residents put items in the wrong bin.
The new role has a salary of up to £32,000.
The move to wheelie bins in the city has been controversial with many wanting to make the move from bin bags, while others think things should just stay as they are.
Over the last few months, 300,000 brand new bins have been delivered taped shut, with residents being told to not start filling the bins until this week.
The move to wheelie bins comes as part of MK City Council's aim to be a 'cleaner, greener and safer place'. According to the city council, the change will mean:
- Higher levels of recycling
- Better quality recyclable materials
- Lower rates of injuries for residents and to staff moving sacks
- Less street litter from sack spillage
- Simpler to monitor misuse of the bins, to support better recycling
Currently, residents in Milton Keynes are said to use 11 million single use recycling sacks annually.
As well as new bins, a new state of the art 65-vehicle waste collection fleet will be introduced, producing lower carbon emissions which cut fuel consumption and emissions by around 10%.
The vast majority of residents will move to wheelie bins including two bins for recycling (red lid for paper and card and blue lid for plastic, metal and glass) although some households who have no space or access for bins will remain using sacks – also separating waste into red and blue sacks.
