Paper and Card Recycling Trial

From September 2019, over 7,500 homes in Boston, South Holland and North Kesteven will be taking part in a year long separate paper and cardboard collection trial.

You do a really good job of recycling – putting your paper and card, tins and plastics in the right bins. However, sometimes the leftovers in the tins, broken glass or food waste contaminates the paper, which makes it really hard to recycle efficiently.

We hope, by having a separate bin, we will be able to collect clean and dry paper and card, and avoid it being contaminated by other items. This can then be sent direct to a local paper mill, reducing the amount of road miles and carbon footprint and processing it back into a paper based product.

We've looked at similar schemes operating around the country, and they have worked really well – hugely increasing the amount of paper and card sent to recycling, and also the quality. We hope to see the same benefits in our area.

We want to do our best for you, and for the environment.

If you live in one of the trial areas, you will have received a letter from us but you might have some questions or would like some more information. 

We're also hosting a number of drop in events across the areas, so please pop in if you'd like some more information.

Leave feedback on the trial

Over 7,500 homes in Boston, North Kesteven and South Holland will take part in a separate paper and cardboard collection trial this Autumn. The year-long trial, run by the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership, aims to boost the quality and amount of paper and card recycled. This scheme gives us the opportunity to do something differently so we can improve the quality of our recycling so it can be fully recycled. 

The reason for the trial is that the present method for collecting recycling (all in one bin) means that the vast majority of paper and card we collect is contaminated by the other items in the recycling bin, like glass and often food waste. Paper and card is also prone to becoming damp, wet and stained when mixed with other recycling. We believe that by collecting it separately in a different bin, it will be kept clean and dry, so it will be recycled rather than being lost because of the contamination.  

Over 7,500 homes in Boston, North Kesteven and South Holland will take part in a separate paper and cardboard collection trial this Autumn.  These areas have been chosen to represent a wide spread of the types of households across the whole of Lincolnshire in order to allow us to learn what works well and how we can take the outcomes of the trial and use this knowledge to help us understand if this is a viable option for everyone in the future. 

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* trial areas have been based upon existing routes which is why only part of Scopwick and Digby have been included

If your house has not been identified as part of the trial area unfortunately we cannot include you directly in the trial at this time however, if you would like to separate your paper and card you are able to take this to one of the Household Waste Recycling Centres which have separate containers for paper and card.

The trial will start in September 2019 and will run for a year. Throughout that time we will be monitoring the trial to see what difference it is making.  

All paper (except shredded paper or tissues) and cardboard can be put into your paper and card bin but it must be CLEAN WITH NO FOOD RESIDUE. 

Your collection day will not change but the frequency will change slightly and your paper and card will be collected in line with the new collection calendar. The overall volume of the recycling that we collect from you will not change, it will just be the frequency of the collection that is different. We will still be using the same vehicles and crews to collect your purple bin. Households in the trial will receive details of what materials will be collected on each day.

Not at this time as we believe that the bin that you have been issued should be sufficient to collect all of your paper and card. If you have larger amounts of excess paper and cardboard, please visit your local Household Waste Recycling Centre.

It will be collected once every four weeks.

We cannot empty bins that contain wrong materials. Wrong materials can contaminate the load and make it unsuitable for recycling. Bins will be tagged and will not be emptied until the next relevant scheduled collection when you must have removed the items not suitable for recycling.

No. If you have large amounts of cardboard, please visit your local Household Waste Recycling Centres. 

If your recycling is wet, the paper and cardboard can stick together and won't be able to be recycled.

Yes, during the trial, paper and cardboard won't be accepted in your current recycling bin. It will only be accepted in the purple bin. 

For all new ventures, we need to firstly invest in the required containers, materials and collection methods which we estimate to be £200,000 across the County for the duration of the trial. However, this initial investment should be recouped within five years and will be greatly outweighed by the long-term savings. That money could then instead be spent on other vital services in your community. It is important to remember that it isn't just about costs. It is about us doing the right thing to help protect the environment for the future, as our residents expect. By using a specialist paper recycler in the trial, we can reduce the amount of miles it travels before being fully recycled and consequently our carbon footprint. 

Yes. If you already have an assisted collection, this will continue.

Your recycling bin containing plastics, metals, glass and paper & card has been sent to our contractor to sort. By separating your paper and card into a single bin this will avoid the paper and card becoming damp, wet and stained when mixed with other recycling. We believe that by collecting it separately in a different bin, it will be kept clean and dry, so it will be recycled rather than being lost because of the contamination.  

  • 18th September 2019 at 10:00 - 12:00
    Scopwick Village Hall
    Brookside
    Scopwick
    Lincoln
    LN4 3PA
  • 18th September 2019 at 14:00 - 16:00
    Cranwell Village Hall
    Old School Ln
    Cranwell Village
    Sleaford
    NG34 8DF
  • 18th September 2019 at 17:00 - 19:00
    Timberland Village Hall
    Main Street
    Timberland
    Lincoln
    LN4 3RZ
  • 20th September 2019 at 14:00 - 16:00
    Digby War Memorial Hall
    North St
    Digby
    Lincoln
    LN4 3YJ

No. Your garden waste collection days will remain the same. Info regarding your garden waste collections can be found on our Garden Waste webpage.

For those in the paper and card trial the bins were delivered 5 weeks prior to the start of the first collection, so it is only natural that some customers bins may already be full. If this is the case the following options are available to you:

We recommend that cardboard especially, is folded to make the most of the bin capacity.

As part of the trial we shall be surveying bins to understand just how full they are. This information will help us to understand collection frequencies.