Devon council replaces 5,000 recycling boxes

Devon residents requested 5,000 replacement plastic recycling boxes in a year, according to West Devon Borough Council.

The borough council's overview and scrutiny committee was told this by its waste and recycling contractors FCC.

Councillor Jane Elliot said the number of replacement boxes seemed "a lot", given the number of households in West Devon was not "particularly high".

The district is home to about 57,000 people.

Councillors in the meeting were told recycling boxes were often damaged in winds and blown into roads, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Principle waste specialist at the council Dale Cropper said the number was high.

However, the committee heard it was not an "unusual figure across the country".

Mr Cropper said officers were identifying if there were "large requests for new containers in certain areas".

For example, if people had limited storage space, he said.

Some residents wanted to build communal storage areas where the boxes could be kept safe, he added.

Deputy chief executive Steve Mullineaux said different authorities had "different ways of doing things".

He said West Devon would be looking at ways to reduce the costs while still encouraging recycling.

Councillor Terry Southcott said the lids needed to be "better quality" as they did not survive long.

“They are easily damaged and often cracked when they come back from being unloaded.

"You cannot keep the water out of those boxes either," he said.

The council said West Devon's recycling rate was 54% in 2022 to 2023.

The target for Devon is 65% by 2035.

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