Thousands of Bracknell homes join plastic waste collection trial

Thousands of homeowners across Bracknell are joining a trial to tackle plastic waste.

More than 10,000 properties will be taking part in a council initiative to collect plastic bags and wrapping.

Bracknell Forest Council has joined forces with Reading and Wokingham borough councils for the scheme.

The initiative asks residents to pack plastic items into a provided blue bag, which then goes inside their existing recycling bin, ready for collection.

All three local authorities have come together to form the r3 Partnership and run the year-long trial, which starts on Monday.

Plastic items eligible for collection include bags, confectionery wrappers, crisp packets, plastic film and bubble wrap.

The blue bags, collected along with regular recycling, can then be taken by the authorities and recycled to create new plastic products like boxes, bins and agricultural or construction materials.

Helen Purnell, Bracknell Forest Council's environment and community cohesion lead, said: "Plastic bags and wrapping pose a significant challenge to the industry and their recycling is limited to supermarket front-of-store collection points."

The scheme would help the authority increase the amount of plastic it could recycle, she said, adding that it marked "another step forward to achieving our net-zero ambitions".

Follow BBC South on Facebook, X, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected] or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2240.