The 240-litre wheelie bins currently used by most residents (left) and the newer 140-litre ones (right)

A proposal to spend £1.6million on giving residents smaller wheelie bins has been ditched by Waltham Forest Council.

The council had announced in January that it wanted to replace the large black 240-litre general household waste bins with smaller, 140-litre bins. A decline in recycling rates was stated as the reason for the move.

But in a swift change of mind Councillor Clyde Loakes, cabinet member for environment, said: “Following further assessment we will not be taking forward further plans to reduce the size of residents’ refuse bins. The council has been offering residents the opportunity to slim down all three of their wheelie bins to a smaller size for a number of years, as many have recognised that they can recycle more and no longer need to have three unnecessarily large bins.

“We are pleased this approach has been taken up by thousands of households and we would encourage more residents to consider this option. We continue to call on residents to recycle as much as possible following a recent dip in recycling rates in Waltham Forest and across London.

“To help households to recycle more and waste less, we run incentive initiatives, operate a simple three-bin kerbside collection system and are unique in London in offering residents unlimited free large-item collections.”