Wheelie bins to get a revamp with new colours

Wheelie bins are set to have their colour schemes standardised following the restructure of local councils in North Yorkshire.

Under the plans, old bins will gradually be replaced by new ones with grey bodies and coloured lids denoting the type of waste they should contain by North Yorkshire Council.

Aimi Brookes, the council's service development manager for waste, said the "harmonisation" process was an attempt to minimise expenditure.

The new bins would be introduced once existing ones reached the end of their "useful life".

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the approach provided "flexibility" by allowing defective lids to be swapped around rather than an entire new bin needing to be supplied.

Ms Brookes added: "The key principles determining the proposed harmonisation of bin colours is to minimise capital outlay on new bins, by continuing to use the existing bin stocks until the end of their useful lives."

Currently, different colour coding systems are used in different areas as a legacy of the 2023 reorganisation of local government that led to the abolition of district councils such as Harrogate and Selby.

The proposed colours are: red (mixed plastics, cans, glass bottles); blue (paper and card); green (garden waste) and grey (all non-recyclable rubbish).

The colours would fall "in line" with national recycling campaigns, the council added.

The new lids would have information on the lids about the items they were intended for.

Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.