Plymouth City Council

In a discovery project with 3 councils we have experienced a number of increased complaints due to the fortnightly bin collection roll. This measure was taken to reduce land-fill waste, increase recycling and also reduce costs.

We would like to look at using Smart Bins in order to better understand when and how we would be able to make collections. We would also look to add an app which would allow residents to know when their bins will be collected and what can be recycled.

We would also look to test a food waste collection also and would do this through a smart bin method.

Discovery evidence

Plymouth Council has pledged to investigate the bins rules. Areas around Mutley and North Hill in Plymouth have been identified to failing under the current bin collection rules and is causing issues due to a higher residential multiple occupancy rate. Cllr Dann is looking into this issue and Smart Bins have been identified as a possible solution. Council Leader Tudor want to consider collection scheme for food waste which could be facilitated through Smart Bins. Source Plymouth City Council Internal and External Source: https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/plymouth-bins-council-labour-students-1755464

Through digital enablement city / region wide benefits have been realized. Rugby Borough Council, for example, replaced 56 traditional bins, each of which had traditionally received between two and three collections per day, with 23 smart stations. In only 12 months it reduced manual waste collections from 51,100 per year to just 1,509 per year – a saving of 49,591 collections. In Cheshire West and Chester Council a total of 60 smart stations replaced 72 traditional bins throughout the borough during the summer of 2015. The council has reduced its annual collections from 209,160 across 72 traditional bins to 12,801 collections across 60 smart stations. Source: http://www.recyclingwasteworld.co.uk/in-depth-article/why-smart-bins-are-increasing-efficiency-of-local-authorities-waste-collections/176090/