Kirklees Council has revealed more details of its kerbside glass collection trials which will start in November.

Monthly glass collections stopped in 2013 with the council blaming austerity cuts and since then recycling rates in Kirklees have declined.

A survey of the public into waste services found a huge demand for kerbside collections to be reinstated and Kirklees Council promised a trial.

In a report to the council’s Cabinet on progress of the Resources and Waste Strategy, more details of how the trial will operate have been released.

The council has promised to bring back kerbside glass collection in 2024 to boost recycling rates but how that will work will be subject to trials – and a decision from the Government on how it will be funded.

The six-month trial starting in November will involve a 23-tonne truck, crewed by a driver and two loaders, collecting glass from around 200 locations in every council ward across Kirklees.

Commercial operators such as restaurants, clubs, pubs and cafes will be offered a free weekly service while glass will be collected fortnightly from certain “communal domestic properties” – flats – which will be both council-owned and private-rented.

Glass will be collected in 240-litre wheeled containers – the same size as standard wheelie bins. Some containers will have standard lids and others will have lockable lids which restrict access to bottle shapes only.

Doorstep glass collections won’t return until 2024

The council will hire two vehicles but only one will operate every day. The other will be used to cover for breakdowns.

In the past the council has also been concerned about health and safety of bin staff and say that the previous monthly collections resulted in injuries and a 25% absence rate.

The trial is still a work in progress and the report to Cabinet says: “The level of interest from commercial businesses is unknown but is already being explored through expressions of interest letters.

“The trial presents an opportunity to understand the health and safety implications of handling glass in wheeled containers from the operational and resident point of view, and to explore how storage space for communal and commercial properties might accommodate such containers.

“Alongside the trial we will also run an education programme for residents at communal properties to help promote the service and the correct use of the containers.”

The Cabinet meeting is on Wednesday September 21.