North Hertfordshire (Herts) Council has expanded its plastic bag recycling trial to approximately 5,500 households in the town of Royston and nearby areas in England, UK. 

The trial began with 2,200 households in Knebworth last October.  

The trail forms part of a plan to enable all homes in the counties of North Herts and East Herts to recycle soft plastics such as plastic bags from the kerbside starting next year, coinciding with the launch of a new joint waste contract in May.

Residents participating in the trial will receive blue bags for their plastic bags and wrapping packaging, including items such as crisp packets and bubble wrap, although pet food pouches will not be accepted.  

Detailed instructions will be provided on what can be recycled and how to prepare the blue bags for collection. 

North Herts District Council place service director Sarah Kingsley said: "We are so pleased to be expanding the initial pilot in Knebworth to Royston and the surrounding area, which is a total of nearly 8,000 households in North Herts. 

“Although plastic bags and wrapping don’t weigh that much, they can take up lots of space in people’s bins and it’s such a shame for them not to be recycled. We all need to look at how we can produce less waste and increase recycling, to reduce what we send to landfill.” 

To avoid contamination, the council urged households not to place their plastic bags and wrapping loosely in their recycling bins. 

Special blue bags are provided for the trial, and Knebworth residents should use these within their paper recycling boxes or recycling bins.  

The collected materials will be sorted at a recycling facility, with those not in the trial areas encouraged to use local supermarket collection points for their soft plastics. 

The trial is part of the broader £3m ($3.96m) Flexible Plastic Fund (FPF) 'FlexCollect' project, which involves nine local authorities in England.  

The project aims to guide the country's government and industry on incorporating plastic bags and wrapping into routine household collection services.  

The FPF, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, and the UK Research and Innovation Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging Challenge Fund provide the necessary funding for the development.