Purple Bag Scheme
Allerdale Borough Council provide a kerbside
recycling collection in the form of a purple bag. Residents place
their glass, cans and plastic bottles in the purple bag and place
it out for collection at the front of their property on a
fortnightly basis.
The scheme started in South
Workington and currently includes Harrington, Seaton, Aspatria,
Broughton, Broughton Moor and Camerton, Stainburn, the majority of
Cockermouth and areas of Keswick as well as Silloth and Wigton.
23,805 homes within the Borough of Allerdale now benefit from the
purple bag scheme. We hope to have around 39,000 properties on
this type of collection as soon as possible. We will be rolling the
scheme out methodically alongside our existing refuse collection
rounds, so if you are not on the scheme but would like to be, be
patient, we are extending the scheme as quickly as possible.
The collection crew will leave the same number of replacement
purple bags as you place out for collection. The bags
should be put out at the front of your property on the same day as
the paper bin. Refuse collections will not be affected -
refuse will still be collected weekly.
The purple bag is collected in a standard
Refuse Collection vehicle (RCV) and sent to a Materials Recycling
Facility (MRF) for separation using a series of magnets, screening
and blowers before being sent onward for recycling.
The bags should be placed out for
collection at the front of your
property by 7am on collection day
This also applies to terraced
properties even though the refuse may be collected from
the lane. Placing the bags at the front will ensure residents
receive any replacement bags they may need as well as making
collections much more efficient.
As the purple bag scheme diverts waste away
from landfill disposal and creates more room for
other non-recyclable general waste, no excess side waste
placed out with the general bin for collection will be
collected in areas where the purple bag is in place.
What can be placed in the purple bag
-
All types/colours of glass
bottles and jars
-
All metal food cans, pet food cans, aerosols, and
drinks cans, steel or aluminium (washed and
squashed)
- Plastic bottles including
cleaning products and sprays – anything with a screw top (please
remove bottle tops; bottle tops can still go in
the purple bag)
If residents need to put out more than one bag
of recyclables each collection they can, the collection crews will
be instructed to deliver additional bags depending on how many have
been put out. Residents can also request additional purple bags by
contacting the customer service centre: 01900 702800. Unfortunately
we will not be able to collect these recyclables in any other type
of sack/bag as it may be impossible for the collectors to identify
the contents.
Please do not use your black 'doorstep
collections box' as these will not be emptied.
Please do not put out the
following:
Panes of glass/mirrors, Pyrex, drinking
glasses etc. These are a different type of glass and need to be
recycled at a higher temperature than packaging glass.
Plastics other than bottles – packaging, yoghurt pots, films
etc. In Allerdale, these lower grades of plastic can not currently
be recycled as readily as the plastics used in bottles.
The bags are for the collection of
recyclables only; purple bags containing refuse will not be
collected.