Thousands of homes in Frome will be able to recycle a wider range of plastics at the kerbside as a new trial gets under way in May.

Flexible plastics – which also includes bread bags, cheese wrappers and salad bags – are currently some of the hardest items to recycle, despite taking up a sizeable chunk of household waste.

The government has been running a pilot scheme since April 2022 with three local authorities (including two in Gloucestershire), with flexible plastics being collected at the kerbside for processing and recycling.

The Somerset Waste Partnership confirmed in February – at its final meeting before being absorbed into the new unitary Somerset Council – that three parts of Somerset would be joining the national ‘FlexCollect’ trial in the spring.

The council has now confirmed that around 3,600 homes across two areas of Frome will begin having further items collected by bin crews from the end of May.

The eligible households will receive written information about the trial in the post over the coming weeks.

The pilot collections will pick-up a wide range of plastic bags and wrapping, including carrier bags, bread bags, confectionery wrappers, crisp packets, food wrapping and cling film.

These items will be put out with the rest of the regular recycling collections, with plastic sacks being provided by the council.

The costs of the pilot collections are funded nationally, with the only costs to the council (and thereby the local taxpayer) being time and resources.

If the trial is successful, it could be expanded to further Somerset homes by 2024.

Councillor Sarah Dyke, portfolio holder for the environment and climate change, said: “This is an exciting project to be part of and it will be welcomed by many.

“Our recycling rate has never been higher, but Somerset wants to do more which is why we made sure we are involved at this early stage.

“We think there will be a lot of enthusiasm for this, but it is important to understand that this is small scale trial. Only those who are written to directly will be able to take part.

“If you do not receive information in the post, you must continue to recycle as normal and not put plastic bags and wrapping out for collection because it will not be picked-up.”

Following the introduction of the Recycle More scheme, Somerset’s recycling rate has reached an all-time high, with 56,2 per cent of all material collected by bin crews able to be recycled.

In Somerset, flexible plastics made up around eight per cent by weight of residual waste (i.e. the contents of the large black bins) in 2018 – and there is no indication that this has declined since the Recycle More scheme was implemented.

Flexible plastics – which include plastics with laminated foil layers, such as food pouches – are difficult to sort and recycle; since they are often made of low-value material, it is difficult for them to be sold on to companies who reprocess them, and they cannot easily be reused for the same purpose.

For more information on the trial, visit www.somerset.gov.uk/waste.

LDRS, Daniel Mumby