NEWS : Post

Kerbside Box

Straight is seeing an increase in demand for its smaller kerbside boxes as Councils are separating out heavier materials, such as glass and paper, for collection. Recent contracts have been secured for the Straight's 40 litre and 44 litre containers.

Both the 40 litre and 44 litre boxes share the same key features as their bigger sister 55 litre boxes, including chip nest, multiple divider positions for collecting and custom graphics. For ease of lifting, the 40 litre box has an extra wide rim making the box easy to lift from any angle and the 44 litre box has an ergonomic grip handle making it easy to lift for the resident and to lift and tip for the collection crew. A range of additional options including windproof lids and nets are available for both boxes.

Birmingham City Council is the latest authority to order 45,000 of the Straight 40 litre grab rim box to collect paper and cardboard in. This is the first stage in a shake up of all their kerbside collections due to roll out during 2006 and 2007.

Phil Brook, Waste Minimisation Officer at the council said: "The grab-rim 40 litre kerbside box was chosen due to the easy handling provided by the moulded rim. This allows for a safe and secure grip, even with a gloved hand. The box has the added advantage that it can be lifted from any side therefore reducing manual handling risks".

Paper will be collected from residents on a fortnightly basis and will be taken to a local paper mill where it will be turned into cardboard. The mill currently recycles more than 30,000 tonnes of paper from Birmingham residents and could use much more.

Coventry City Council is expanding its kerbside collection scheme by rolling out a further 108,000 Straight 44 litre boxes with elasticated nets to households across the city. Coventry currently collects paper from almost half of its households; the expansion of this scheme means that most homes in the city will now have a collection service.

Julie Bird, waste services officer says: "I am delighted we are able to expand our recycling collections across the city. We have made a number of changes to refuse collections to allow us to easily incorporate this scheme with a fortnightly collection. We hope the paper collection service and the expansion of our green waste scheme in the spring will increase our recycling rates to help meet our target of 18% by March 2006"

Elasticated nets supplied with kerbside boxes are ideal when collecting material such as paper as they allow the householder to fill above the rim of the box as well as acting as a "soft" lid to prevent the paper from blowing away.

Julie also commented:"We chose a 44 litre box because paper is heavy material to collect and we felt the smaller box would help reduce any risks surrounding manual handling issues."