“THE ‘seven bin’ collection was never a policy so nothing has changed.”

“The proposal that we should force you to have seven different bins in your home. I’ve scrapped it.”

Compare and contrast the two statements above and you would be right to be confused.

The first is from Somerset Council, while the second was made by the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, in a speech on September 20.

In it, he rolled back deadlines on a number of environmental commitments – including a ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars – as well as “scrapping” a host of “proposals”.

The most notable was, perhaps, the ‘seven bin’ proposal Mr Sunak spoke about.

“The proposal that we should force you to have seven different bins in your home. I’ve scrapped it,” he said.

However, commentators have been unable to point to where the plan ever has, or was ever proposed to, become law, or even a rule for households.

We asked councils if Mr Sunak’s speech meant there would be any changes to waste policy and the authorities in Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire said they weren’t planning to introduce a seven-bin collection rule.

Indeed, Dorset Council head of commercial waste and strategy, Gemma Clinton, said she hoped the speech meant local authorities would start receiving some “much-needed details” of government recycling proposals – which Defra said will be announced “shortly”.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during his speech on net zero. Picture: gov.uk

“Hopefully, the PM’s recent announcement is the start of the clarification all local authorities have been waiting on from central government regarding proposed waste reforms, now called ‘Simpler Recycling’, and Dorset Council will finally start to receive some much-needed details,” Gemma said.

“Under the new packaging Extended Producer Responsibility reforms, councils will be expected to prove that their collection method is “efficient and effective” to recover as much money as possible from the producers of packaging waste, to be spent on its collection and processing.

“But until we have clarity on what the government means by “efficient and effective”, we are unable to determine whether we’d need to change our collection scheme.

“Dorset Council’s current collection method has been very successful for us so far, as we’re one of the highest performing councils in England.

“This has only been possible by making things as easy as possible for our residents, and we hope to retain this simplicity in the future whilst continuing to drive up performance.”

The sentiment was echoed by Cllr Nick Holder, Wiltshire Council’s cabinet member for environment.

He said: “In Wiltshire, our waste management priority is to make it as easy as possible for residents to recycle as much as they can, and we also want to be able to divert as much as we can from landfill.

“In 2022/23, we diverted over 84.4% of our waste from landfill, either through recycling or sending residual waste for energy recovery.

“Very little of the non-recyclable household waste collected at the kerbside in Wiltshire is sent to landfill.

“To support recycling across the county we provide a comprehensive twin bin kerbside recycling collection service which we’ve recently enhanced, meaning we are now able to collect household batteries and small rechargeable items.

“Wiltshire Council also provides 10 Household Recycling Centres across the county to help people to recycle their waste items, or donate them for reuse.

“We have an ongoing campaign called ‘Recycling – Let’s Sort It’, which not only encourages people to recycle as much as they can, but provides some useful information on what can and cannot be recycled to help reduce contamination in recycling bins.

“We’re in the process of introducing designated sorting areas at all our Household Recycling Centres to give people an extra opportunity to separate their waste and support them to recycle even more at our sites.

“Looking at the national picture, clarity and a rapid response from Defra on long-awaited detail of their reform plans remains essential to enable local government to plan ahead for any changes in processing and the collection systems required.”

A Somerset recycling lorry – which sorts recycling waste at the kerbside

Meanwhile, at Somerset Council, a spokesperson confirmed there would be no changes to the authority’s current recycling collections in light of the PM’s speech.

“The ‘seven bin’ collection was never a policy so nothing has changed,” they said.

“In Somerset we have been using our kerbside sort system for close to 20 years.

“The system allows us to recycle more and recycle it closer to home, we get higher quality materials that re-processors ask for.

“The colourful collection lorries were brought in three years ago as part of a scheduled vehicle upgrade program to serve the Recycle More collections launched a couple of years ago.

“So, no changes because of the announcements last week.

“We are involved in a nationwide trial of the collection of plastic bags and wrapping – helping pave the way for what should eventually be a nationwide shift that allowed everyone to recycle this type of material.”

READ MORE: Somerset councillor writes to minister over net zero policy changes

In response to questions over the Prime Minister’s comments, former environment secretary, George Eustace, clarified the situation, telling Channel 4 News a requirement to have seven bins “wasn’t government policy, no, that’s right”.

Last week, Councillor Dixie Darch, Somerset Council’s lead member for climate and environment, wrote to the minister for energy security and net zero to voice her “frustration” at recent changes to green policy.

A Defra spokesperson said the new guidance for local authorities would be issued soon.

“The Environment Secretary will shortly introduce a smarter approach that responds to feedback and forges a new path on reuse and recycling,” they said.

“The new Simpler Recycling system, to be outlined shortly, will ensure all homes in England can recycle the same materials, ending the confusion over what can and can’t be recycled.

“Our plans will make recycling easier for everyone and ensure we continue on track to meet our net zero ambitions.”