CONTROVERSIAL slimline bins are to be introduced across Bolton — at a cost of £2 million — to encourage people to recycle more.

Bolton Council is planning to replace residents’ existing grey waste bins, which hold 240 litres of rubbish, with smaller 140 litre bins.

The bins will cost the council an initial £2 million but it believes the move could save between £1.2 and £1.5 million each year in disposal costs and will lead to people recycling properly and more efficiently.

It has not yet been established when the new bins will be rolled out across the borough but it will happen within the next two years.

Consultations will continue with residents through the summer and a report is expected to be produced later in the year.

The council’s environment chief, Cllr Nick Peel said the move was a “no brainer” because of the millions of pounds currently being spent by the council disposing of non-recyclable materials.

He added: “Anyone in Bolton who is recycling properly does not need a 240 litre bin.

"The people who are not recycling properly are attempting to get two weeks’ worth of rubbish into just one bin, while their neighbours who are recycling are getting a weekly collection — so that is the choice.

“We are currently at just under 40 per cent of waste being recycled in Bolton and we need to get that figure much higher.”

The move to smaller bins has been introduced by neighbouring councils in Trafford, Oldham and Stockport, and some residents have struggled to adjust.

Bury Council made an even more controversial decision to change its collection of general waste bins to once every three weeks.

Cllr Peel said he could “categorically” rule out moving from two-weekly to three-weekly collection.

He said: “We looked at that option and said we do not want to do that — so opted to reduce the size of the grey bins.

“There is broad support for the move in the consultations we have done — it hasn’t been a controversial issue.”

“We are looking at saving between £1.2 and £1.5 million a year, money that is being burned at the moment.

“There are an awful lot of people who aren’t recycling at the moment and we need to get them involved for the good of everyone.”

One resident who is torn on the issue is Horwich resident Greg Smith, aged 36, who is father to two very young children but works in the waste and recycling industry.

He said: “I do think it is great that more people are being encouraged to recycle because in my line of work I can see that we currently do produce far too much unusable waste.

“But I do think the move to smaller bins will be tough initially for families because I know that sometimes you simply can’t recycle some things, and as someone with children aged five months and 19 months, we can end up filling our grey bin quite quickly.

“I do think its a good idea on the whole, but I can see it causing a lot of problems for people as well.”

Bolton’s Conservative Party has previously submitted a report suggesting that the smaller grey bin option should be introduced, but that it must be collected on a weekly basis.

Group leader Cllr David Greenhalgh said: “We do support a reduction in the size of the grey bin because it has proven to promote recycling but we feel that a lot of people expect a weekly collection of that bin for what they pay in council tax.”

The leader of Trafford Council, Sean Anstee, who has overseen the roll out of the smaller bins in his borough, said the move has drastically improved recycling rates.

He said: “We now have recycling rates of 60 per cent in Trafford, one of the best figures in the country, compared to about 48 per cent before the change, so it has been very successful in driving up the rate of recycling.

“There were some small pockets of resistance at first but I now receive very few complaints on the issue.”