Households could have up to seven bins each under new plans for rubbish collections

Wheelie bin numbers could grow from four to seven under new government plans to nationalise rubbish collection.

As a part of the Environment Bill, the government wants to standardise bin collection so it’s the same across the entire country by the years 2023 and 2024, the Daily Mirror reports.

However, the District Council’s Network (DCN) has warned that these plans may not work as they would require some households to use more bins than ever before.

The plans could see households needing four separate bins for dry recyclables – glass, metal, plastic, paper and card – as well as waste collectables for garden waste, food waste and non-recyclables.

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The DCN has slammed the proposals as ‘poorly thought out,’ pointing out that some families may not have the space for the extra bins.

The extra collection vehicles could also cause congestion on the road, as well as costing a staggering £680million every year, the DCN added.

The network has alternatively suggested for local councils and communities to be able to individually decide how they want their waste collected.

Councillor Dan Humphreys, DCN’s lead member for enhancing quality of life, said: “These proposals are poorly thought out and will create costly chaos and confusion up and down the country.

“Rather than standardise waste collections, local communities should be able to decide what works best for them.

“What works for residents in villages and rural areas won’t work for people living in flats in a busy town or city. It is also wrong that those without gardens are contributing towards the costs of garden waste collections for those who do.”

Gerald England / Geograph

A spokesperson from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs has since responded, telling The Mirror that in circumstances where it is not practical to have as many as seven bins, local authorities may collect recyclable waste from two or more waste streams together.

The spokesperson said: “We are going further and faster to recycle more of our waste to protect the environment – less than 10% of household waste is now going to landfill and the amount of food waste being recycled is up by over 40% since 2015.

“But we must do more, and through our major reforms of kerbside collections we will boost recycling levels and step up our war on plastic pollution – while our proposed weekly food waste collections will maximise recycling and stop the build-up of smelly waste around homes.”