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Why I rinse my recycling and give it to my mum

Ben Schofield,BBC East political correspondentand
Naomi Richardson
News imageQays Najm/BBC Louise Brown smiling and looking down the camera. She is standing inside a kitchen area; there is equipment on the counter behind her and an orange mug hanging from a hook under a shelf on the wall on the right of the image. There are cans of coffee on top of the shelf. Louise has straight, shoulder-length hair, that is curling around her cheeks and chin. She is wearing a heavily patterned, flowery top and is holding a carton of 'barista oat' drink.Qays Najm/BBC
Louise Brown says she was "gutted" after recycling bins were removed from shared bins near her flat

Just a couple of junctions on the M1 separate Milton Keynes and Luton – but their recycling rates are far apart.

In 2023-24, Milton Keynes recycled more than twice as much of its waste as Luton.

As the government pushes councils to increase recycling, why did the two places perform so differently?

News imageBen Schofield/BBC A shot inside a communal bin store near Louise's flat. A large metal bin is overflowing with full refuse sacks, on top of which are empty cardboard boxes. The brick structure of the bin store can be seen behind the bin, though the inside of the store is dark. On the left of the image, part of one wooden door is visible, still in its closed position, while on the right the other wooden door hangs open.Ben Schofield/BBC
Brown says in the past, she has removed things that could be recycled from the shared bins

Louise Brown, 47, says she thinks about recycling "all the time".

"I could not put this in a landfill bin – I just physically couldn't," she says, holding an empty oat milk carton.

But opening the shared bin store near her Luton flat, she despairs.

"If you look in here, all of this stuff could be recycled – there's plastic boxes, there's cardboard, there's cans and plastic – so it's a real shame."

When she moved in about three years ago, the stores had separate containers for recycling and general waste.

But she says there was so much contamination – landfill waste being mixed with the recycling – that the recycling bins were taken away.

Brown, a member of Luton Friends of the Earth, says she was "gutted" by the decision.

"If it wasn't so gross, I'd be getting in there with my gloves," she adds, looking at the overflowing shared bin.

"I have done before – I have literally taken stuff out, going, 'Oh God, that could be recycled.'"

News imageBen Schofield/BBC Louise and Janet Brown standing side by side and looking directly down the camera. They are in a residential setting, with brick buildings, grass and bushes behind them. They are both smiling. Louise, on the left, is wearing a brightly coloured knitted cardigan, over a flowery patterned top. Janet, who has short grey hair, is wearing a blue winter coat with a hood, with a lilac coloured jumper underneath. Ben Schofield/BBC
Brown now stores her recycling and gives it to her mum Janet, who disposes of it for her

Now Brown rinses and stores her recycling before giving it to her mum Janet Brown, 71, who lives about 20 minutes' walk away.

According to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), in 2023-24 Luton sent 27.7% of its waste for "reuse, recycling or composting".

Milton Keynes's figure was 60.2%.

What does Brown put Luton's lower rate down to?

"We need convenience," she says. "It's very difficult for me to rinse this out [and] give it to someone else – it takes effort.

"If I've got a bin a couple of metres away where I can put this, I will use it. If you take that bin away, people aren't going to make the effort."

Luton Borough Council confirmed that recycling bins had been removed from the flats.

A spokesperson added: "Residents who wish to recycle can still do so by requesting clear recycling sacks from the council's refuse service.

"These can be put out on the designated recycling collection day and will be collected."

News imageQays Najm/BBC New blue food bins stacked on the back of a small lorry in a residential street. The brightly coloured hatchings of the lorry's rear dominates the bottom of the image. Above that, are the plastic food bins, stacked three or four high and secured in place with what looks like a bungee cord stretching across the width of the truck. Behind the lorry are brick built houses, which are out of focus. In front of one house on the right is a black bin with Luton written on it. Qays Najm/BBC
Households in Luton are receiving food waste bins, which will be collected weekly from the end of March

Like many authorities, Luton council is introducing food waste collections.

The weekly service is due to start on 31 March, to meet a government deadline under its "Simpler Recycling" policy.

The council says about 35% of household rubbish is food waste and hopes the service will boost its overall recycling rate.

Food waste will be turned into biogas and fertiliser.

News imageQays Najm/BBC David and Hannah Weller, standing side by side, both looking down the camera. They are inside their kitchen, with a glimpse of tiles and a cupboard behind them. David is slightly taller than Hannah and is standing on the left of the image. He is wearing a black top and a dark blue cap, with a white logo on the front. He has a short, dark haired beard and wears glasses with clear plastic frames. Hannah is also in a black top. Her long blonde hair, falls just below her shoulders. She is smiling and showing her teeth.Qays Najm/BBC
David and Hannah Weller are keen to see what difference the food waste collections will make

David and Hannah Weller are also keen recyclers.

Graphic designer David, 37, says he is "hyper-aware of the environmental cost" of waste so tries to avoid sending items to landfill wherever possible.

Luton residents will receive a small kitchen caddy and a larger bucket-sized bin, designed to sit outside.

David says their kitchen is "fairly small", and that fitting the bins in a tight row of terraced housing could be "a struggle".

"We'll make it work somehow," he adds. "We might need to put some things under the sink.

"Hopefully it's going to make our black bins less smelly."

Hannah Weller, who works for the Veganuary campaign, says she is "very interested to see how it goes" and wonders if weekly collections could better fit into people's lives.

What can be done to boost recycling in Luton?

"Education, isn't it? You know, ultimately it is down to education," she says.

News imageQays Najm/BBC Ghulam Abbas, standing in a residential street, looking directly down the camera. He is smiling slightly and has short black hair. He is wearing a black overcoat, with an open-necked light-coloured shirt underneath. Behind him is a row of houses, with cars parked on several driveways. Qays Najm/BBC
Ghulam Abbas admits Luton's recycling rate "isn't where it should be"

Ghulam Abbas, the Labour councillor responsible for waste in Luton, says the borough is planning a "whole educational programme" to encourage recycling and reduce waste.

Food waste collections will "help to make Luton a cleaner, greener, more sustainable town", he adds.

Under "Simpler Recycling", the government is asking councils in England to provide four waste containers for:

  • non-recyclables
  • food waste
  • paper and cardboard
  • all other dry recyclables, such as paper, metal and glass

Abbas says Luton plans to introduce a paper and cardboard collection in April 2027.

But he admits: "We know our rate isn't where it should be – we know it needs to improve and what we're doing with the food waste and what we've got coming down the line will improve that."

He says the challenges for the borough include it being "disadvantaged and deprived" with a significant "transient" population.

"It's equivalent to London, so you really need to be comparing Luton to London, rather than Milton Keynes," he adds.

News imageQays Najm/BBC Two bins sitting on a pavement in a residential street. The bin on the left is a black plastic box, which is full of empty green bottles. To the right is a grey bin, with a green lid and "Luton" written on the front.Qays Najm/BBC
The government's "Simpler Recycling" policy is prompting many councils to change their bin collections

Luton council's opposition leader, Liberal Democrat Amjid Ali, says it was "quite unfortunate" that the authority started charging for green garden waste collections in 2021.

"That's probably driven up a lot of the general waste," he says.

Ali agrees more education is needed, particularly targeting estate agents and landlords, because "a good chunk of our population is in the private rented sector and I think that's where the majority of our recycling issues are".

In Milton Keynes, the council introduced a four-wheelie bin system in 2023.

Some residents feared "bin-mageddon", but the council says it helped increase its recycling rate by 12 percentage points – a bigger rise than any other area in England.

Previously, much of Milton Keynes' rubbish went into black or clear plastic sacks.

News imageBen Schofield/BBC A refuse collector walking a recycling bin back to the pavement. In the foreground is a blue-lidded black bin, next to a bush. The bin collector is wheeling an orange-lidded bin from the road and onto the pavement. He is wearing an orange, high-visibility suit, protective gloves and a black beanie-type hat. Behind him is the back of a bin lorry, stationary on the road, between cars. There are houses in the very background. The sky is overcast. Ben Schofield/BBC
Milton Keynes saw the biggest increase in recycling rates in England

Nicholas Hannon, Milton Keynes City Council's assistant director for environment, waste and commissioning, says the authority has had a "proud history of recycling" and that in 1993 it offered one of the country's first kerbside recycling collection services.

While he credits the new wheelie bins with helping boost recycling rates, the city had posted a rate of 59.1% in 2018-19, five years before the new bins arrived.

But that subsequently slipped, which Hannon puts down to contamination, or "more of the wrong materials going into the recycling sack".

He explains: "Our recycling quantity was stable but the quality was deteriorating."

News imageBen Schofield/BBC Nicholas Hannon standing inside a large warehouse looking directly down the camera. He is smiling, though not showing his teeth. He has short, greying hair, worn swept back, and blue eyes. He is wearing a dark suit jacket and a white, open necked shirt. Part of a turquoise lanyard can be seen between his jacket and shirt. Behind him are large pieces of machinery, including a large yellow digger and a green industrial shredder. There are also several piles of rubbish, in compounds on the outside walls.Ben Schofield/BBC
Nicholas Hannon says the wheelie bins give a "very clear offer" to Milton Keynes residents

The new wheelie bins, Hannon adds, have given "a very clear offer to our residents".

The city is seeing "more and more paper and more card" put into them, which has "really driven up our recycling rates".

Milton Keynes now says it wants to be the "number one recycling city in the country".

Recycling data for 2024-25 is due out towards the end of March.

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