A successful glass recycling trial in the county is being extended until 2023. 
 

Last year the council launched a pilot pick-up scheme for glass, which involved 4,000 households at select locations. 
 

The four trial areas covered Morpeth, Bedlington, Hexham and Alnwick with Lesbury, with each one comprising approximately 1,000 households. 

The council's Cabinet has now agreed to extend the pilot scheme to March 2023 and include 800 more households in the current trial areas. 
 

Since the pilot introduction over 280 tonnes of glass have been recycled. Overall resident satisfaction with the service has been extremely high with 89% of residents that responded being satisfied or very satisfied. 90% of respondents replying stated that the wheel bin service was convenient. 
 

The council had estimated the scheme would result in 41kg of glass being collected, per household, per year. However, the actual figure was 71kg.  
 

However, whilst the trial has been very successful the results have been affected by the impacts of Covid on consumer habits and recycling activity.  It was considered that by extending the duration of the pilot scheme it would be possible to obtain more accurate data on how it would perform now that Covid restrictions have eased and things are returning to normality.  
 

The Government has stated its intention to provide funding support for local authorities to meet the cost of new recycling obligations and it’s hoped that by extending the duration of the trial Northumberland will be in a strong position to secure the funding support necessary to allow a countywide kerbside glass collection service to be rolled-out from 2023/24 onwards. 
 

Coun John Riddle, cabinet member for local services, said: “This pilot scheme has been a great success. We’ve worked hard to design a scheme which will benefit residents, while also helping to combat climate change and improve our recycling rates.    
 

“This has been an important first step in helping us gather the data on collection and participation rates so in due course, and with appropriate Government funding, we will look to roll it out to the rest of the county during 2023/24.”