NowRecycle Blog

A state-of-the-art, wheeled composter, which enables those living in apartments as well as houses to recycle their green waste, has been heralded a major success by one of the first local authorities using it.

South Ayrshire Council has placed over 45,000 Citybac Bio bins with its residents and this has made a significant contribution towards recycling rates nudging 25 per cent as a result.

The Citybac Bio has been developed by Plastic Omnium, one of Europe’s market leaders in waste containment solutions, and enables green waste to be stored in a way that then allows it to be recycled after collection.

“If green waste isn’t isolated during the collection process, it becomes unrecoverable,” explained Peter McCann, UK sales manager of Plastic Omnium.

“Most local authorities have addressed this issue by providing composters either freely or at favourable rates to householders but that’s of little use if you live in an apartment or don’t have space for a composter in your garden.

“Our Citybac Bio wheeled bin drains waste and lets the air in such a way that the waste remains recyclable before it’s collected. The container itself is impregnated with an innocuous, anti-bacterial agent to prevent unpleasant smells. Add to that the smart design which keeps air flowing while the water drains into a reservoir below to keep the waste dry, and you can see why it’s virtually odour-free and fine for indoor use,” he added.

Stratton MacDonald, assistant manager for waste strategy at South Ayrshire Council, said he was delighted with the performance of the Council’s 45,000 plus Citybac Bio bins.

“As the kerbside collection of garden waste is every four weeks, it was important that no offensive odour was produced,” he said.

“It was also important that the bins could contain four weeks worth of garden rubbish, so we were very pleased with the reduction of mass that occurs in the Citybac Bio – it actually starts the composting process.

“The feedback from householders is also very positive – some households with bigger gardens have even requested a second bin. They love the fact that the bin is light and they can wheel it around with them whilst doing the gardening, rather than carrying the cuttings to and from the bin.

“We would never have considered providing sacks for garden waste collection as they’re too heavy to lift when full, and bags can lead to contamination.

“Recycling rates have increased from six per cent to 22 per cent since we started these schemes and we anticipate hitting 25 per cent by next year.

“This significant improvement could not have been achieved without Plastic Omnium’s Citybac Bio, with approximately half of recyclables being garden waste,” he added.

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Editors’ notes:
NowRecycle.co.uk is a trading style of Plastic Omnium Systems Ltd - a European market leader in waste containment solutions that provides a wide range of waste containers and services including wheeled bins, litter bins, banks, composters and sacks. It is part of the International Plastic Omnium Group, a world leader in contract waste container solutions with worldwide sales of more than £1.8 billion. It employs over 9,000 people in 25 countries, across four continents, in manufacturing and service solutions for the automotive, environment and performance plastic products.

Press Contact: Simon Dutta, N European Marketing Director, Plastic Omnium Urban Systems Ltd
Telephone: 01952 582 583