A Green-led council has been urged to scrap plans to spend £350,000 in tax cash on new bin lids.
From 2026, East Suffolk Council will give households in the area a new grey wheelie bin with a green lid for paper and card.
The authority claims the new bins could be confused with the current green bins – which are entirely green.
To fix that, it will change the green bins’ lids to brown as part of its “Better Recycling” scheme.
Buying the lids will cost taxpayers £300,000, while fitting them will cost £50,000, the council said.
It added this would be cheaper than replacing the bins entirely, which would cost more than £1million.
But furious residents have urged their council to change course.
One, John Hartill, said: “Local authorities need to be more accountable for mindless spending.
“Perhaps that £350,000 could help a few school budgets, fix a pot hole or repaint a white line on the road; all of which are sadly deteriorating whilst money is being squandered on bin lids.”
PICTURED: A pair of East Suffolk Council-run bins. The authority has been slammed for spending £350,000 on a series of new lids
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Another, Allan Sugg, blasted: “It’s a total waste of public money at a time when all local authorities are under pressure. East Suffolk should prioritise its expenditure.”
More locals said the council should simply use stickers – for less money – or only change the new bins.
The plans, which were green-lit by the council last month, will affect 50,000 households signed up to the £54-per-year garden waste collection service.
The authority hopes the change will also bring East Suffolk in line with households in the rest of the county, many of which use brown bins for garden rubbish.
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Ex-East of England MEP and Reform UK spokeswoman June Mummery blasted: “This is yet another example of burdensome pressures placed on local councils and their budgets by the last national Conservative Government and implemented by their Labour successors.
“Reform UK continues to fight for common sense and value for money to be at the heart of decisions impacting residents.”
While Benjamin Elks, grassroots development manager at the Taxpayers’ Alliance said: “Spending £350,000 on bin lids is peak council waste.
“Only local town hall bosses could think that spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ cash on bin lids is a priority.
“The council should stop the rubbish bin makeovers and focus on delivering services.”
Reform UK’s June Mummery (pictured) blasted central Government ‘burdens’ on councils
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PAThe Better Recycling scheme is set to be rolled out in June 2026, and will also see a new weekly food waste collection service and an adoption of a three-weekly waste collection service.
Under the “New Burdens Funding”, East Suffolk Council was allocated £2,367,763 for the scheme.
Sally Noble, the council’s cabinet member for the environment, said: “When our garden waste subscription service was introduced some years ago, the previous Conservative administration decided not to follow the approved waste and recycling colour scheme, and introduced green bins for garden waste instead of the established brown.
“We said from early on that this could cause confusion when alongside the new green-lidded bin we are introducing for card and paper as part of ‘Better Recycling’.
“However, it is important that we address this as cost-effectively as possible, and replacing lids only, is far cheaper.
“This money comes from an existing budget, where – thanks to excellent procurement work by the council – we have remaining funding in place which we are unable to utilise.
“Ultimately, this is a step we must take, to ensure consistency and simplicity, and I am entirely satisfied that this approach is the most cost-effective way to meet our objectives.”
