Underground 'super bins' could soon be coming to Bradford

The city is looking to follow Liverpool – which installed the new style bins in areas of the city last year.

And a Bradford Council meeting was told that Little Germany was one area that could see new subterranean bins installed.

Much of the storage space for the bins is underground – with only a chute through which people dump their waste visible at street level.

In Liverpool the bins have been installed around terraced homes, in areas where households don’t have space for wheelie bins.

When the bins are almost full, they send a signal to waste teams, who can then raise the huge waste chambers from the ground for the waste to be collected.

Liverpool City Council has said the bins will help reduce waste caused by ripped bins, and with the waste being stores underground it would help with issues like smells and vermin.

A superbin in Liverpool being emptied - picture from Liverpool City Council (Image: Liverpool City Council)

A meeting of Bradford Council’s Regeneration and Environment Scrutiny Committee heard that super bins could replace some of the existing city centre bins – especially communal bins used by apartment buildings.

It could make overflowing bins in the city centre a thing of the past.

The committee was given an annual report from the Council’s Waste Management Team on Tuesday night.

Overflowing bins on Bradford estate 'open season for vermin'

Councillor Si Cunningham (Lab, Bolton and Undercliffe) referred to the Liverpool scheme, asking: “What consideration if any has Bradford Council given to a post wheelie bin world?

“There has been an interesting pilot in Liverpool where they have been able to service about 25,000 to 30,000 households in the city with ‘super bins’ rather than wheelie bins.

“Is something like that being looked at in Bradford?”

Richard Galthen, the Council's Principal Officer for Waste Services, replied: “It is early days, but we have got a meeting planned with a contractor regarding underground storage – mainly in the city centre.

“It would clear up a lot of issues and help us reduce the number of visits to some areas for bin collections.

“We’re trying to get something started – hopefully that is something we can start soon.”

He explained that as well as numerous public litter bins in the city centre, there were trade waste bins used by businesses and communal bins used by residents of apartment buildings.

Mr Galthen said: “A lot of that could be replaced by underground waste storage – there wouldn’t be anything above ground. The area around the bins can be parked on, or walked on.

“We can get a notification when the bins are approaching capacity. It means we only need to go out when the bins are full.

“It would free up a lot of space.”

Members heard that when the underground bins are filled, they are collected by being raised above ground by the collection lorry.

Cllr Cunningham asked if this pilot could be tied in with upcoming works to Bradford city centre.

Work under the Transforming Cities Fund, due to begin this year, will see swathes of the city centre, including Market Street and a section of Hall Ings, pedestrianised.

And the 'Top of Town' area is currently being redesigned to create a new park at Oastler Square and improvements made to North Parade.

Cllr Cunningham added: “It is worth flagging up Little Germany in particular.

Little Germany (Image: T&A)

“There has been a huge proliferation of residential conversions. The waste produced by those flats has been a huge problem for us. Maybe that area of the city is where we could try something like this.”

Little Germany is a Conservation Area, filled with listed buildings. Many of these buildings have been converted into flats in recent years.

Mr Galthen replied: “We’re working with various teams regarding the city centre. Little Germany is an area where there are a lot of conversions and no space for bins.

“Unfortunately, people see a bin that is already full and just dump their waste next to it.”

Chair of the Committee Councillor Kamran Hussain (Lab, Toller) was cautious about the proposed super bins. He said: “There are a lot of safety aspects around this.

“If people walk over it there is a danger of falling in. Until all these issues are dealt with, I don’t think Bradford should impose underground bins.”