Across Sheffield, blue recycling bins are “overflowing” as residents are forced to stamp down, fold and even leave recycling in the rain to fit it in the bin.
Blue bins, which hold plastic and cardboard, are currently collected by Sheffield City Council on a monthly basis, but many believe this is nowhere near often enough.
Paul Fores, 38, a salesforce product owner from Woodhouse, described his annoyance with the irregularity of bin collection.
Mr Fores said: “It’s just so frustrating. You see people stacking up paper boxes down alleyways and in front of their house, just hoping that they can get it removed.
“I’m expecting a baby in a few weeks and we’ve got boxes and boxes of stuff. Trying to find somewhere to put all the empty boxes in nigh on impossible.”
3.6 billion parcels were shipped in the UK in 2022/23, according to Statista, almost double the 1.7 billion that were shipped in 2013-2014, this constantly rising figure leads to an ever increasing demand for recycling.
Mr Fores continued: “We have to end up stacking a load of cardboard in the corner of the kitchen because there’s nowhere else to put it and it ends up making your house look a mess.
“Just let me recycle more. That is all I want.”
Sheffield’s policy of monthly collection is far less often than other cities across Yorkshire; in Leeds and Bradford, for example, recycling bins are collected on a fortnightly basis.
Only 29% of household waste between January and March 2023 was recycled in Sheffield, whereas in Leeds the figure sat at 39%.
Mick Rooney, councillor for Woodhouse, said: “In an ideal world we would do it [collect bins] more often, but the problem is we do not have the money.
“The more often you take out the bins, the more it costs.”
Fly-tipping is one of the biggest issues when there is insufficient space for recycling, and Councillor Rooney mentioned that it had increased across the city.
He said: “It makes the place look horrible, it puts wildlife in danger and if it’s left long enough it will deteriorate and possibly poison the ground and watercourses as well.”
The labour councillor suggested people should got to supermarkets or use on-street bins, rather than resorting to fly-tipping.
According to a survey conducted by Recycle Now in 2020, 93% of UK households believe “everyone has a responsibility to help towards cleaning up the environment.”
Matt Bates, 21, a student who lives with seven other students in Broomhill, said: “It’s always overflowing: we’ve always got recycling and it’s piling up. When we try and take it out all the bins are full.
“Its not nice when your kitchen is a tip.
“If we want a clean kitchen we’d have to throw it in the general waste, but we’re young people so we want to recycle. We don’t really get the opportunity to because the bins are always full.”
Veolia, a recycling company who have been partnered with Sheffield City Council since 2001, were contacted but declined to make a statement.
