A pilot project designed to encourage people to dispose of litter responsibility has been hailed a success by Birmingham City Council. The Bin it for Good initiative, run for three months between September and November 2015, has led to a five per cent reduction in litter on streets in the main retail areas of the city centre. Under the scheme, also supported by Keep Britain Tidy, Retail Birmingham Business Improvement District and The Wrigley Company, a number of bins in the city centre were designated with stickers – explaining if more waste was disposed in them, more cash would be raised on a “sliding scale” basis for Love Brum, a Birmingham-based charity supporting a number of local good causes.
During the three-month trial, the percentage of litter waste picked up within the Retail Birmingham Business Improvement District (BID) decreased as a percentage of overall waste fell from 10.05 per cent to 4.94 per cent. Therefore, the percentage placed responsibly in bins rose from 89.95 per cent to 95.06 per cent.
This meant that Love Brum received £1,350 for good causes, under the terms of the initiative, as agreed at its launch in the late summer.
Cllr Lisa Trickett, Cabinet Member for Sustainability, said: “Given we spend £13million annually on street cleaning, we are delighted with the results from this pilot project.
“It was a scheme that had been a success in other parts of the country, but you can never be sure if the findings will be achievable elsewhere until you try it yourself.
“Now we know the impact this project has had in the city centre, it is now for districts and wards across the city to now reflect on whether this is something that they feel has the ability to deliver on what is consistently raised as a top priority by residents – cleaner streets in their neighbourhoods.”
Tim Andrews, Chairman of LoveBrum, said: “We were delighted to partner and support this great initiative. LoveBrum is a ‘movement’ for a better Birmingham, it unearths and funds hard to reach, hidden gem charities and organisations, which are helping to make Birmingham a better place to live and work, so our objectives are perfectly aligned. It’s great to think LoveBrum helped to reduce the litter in our city centre.”
Steve Hewlett, BID manager at Retail Birmingham, added: “The Bin it for Good campaign has been very positive. We have seen people using the bins more often, helping to keep the city centre shopping streets clean whilst raising money for a great charity.”
