Residents in Reading will be facing a delay of more than a year before they can get their glass recycling collected outside of their homes.
For decades, the only way to recycle glass in Reading has been to throw the bottles and jars into bottle banks.
There are 49 bottle banks dotted around the town, with some placed in residential areas and parks.
While using the bottle banks can be convenient for some residents, in some cases, they have become focal points for fly-tipping.
Examples include the former Erleigh Road bottle bank, which was removed after persistent fly-tipping in March 2024, and has also been highlighted at Kensington Park.
Other areas in England have had kerbside glass recycling for more than 15 years, such as Somerset, where glass has been collected outside of homes since 2007.
Reading Borough Council was initially going to introduce kerbside glass recycling in April this year, but this has been pushed back to April 2027 due to delays in acquiring the vehicles and containers used to implement the service.
A council report states: The supply chain delays are a direct consequence of multiple local authorities all working towards the government’s legislative timetable.
Whilst the consequential delays are unwelcome, they allow for a joint programme of service enhancement to also include flexible plastics on our recycling rounds, required in April 2027.
This report was presented to the council’s policy committee last month.
Karen Rowland, lead councillor for environmental services, stated that the delay gives the council the opportunity to make ‘lemonade out of lemons’.
Cllr Rowland (Labour, Abbey) said: “Despite the fact that we are now met with a resource challenge in procuring the vehicles, which will cause us a delay that we were hoping not to run into, it is important to note that we do have the possibility of truly making lemonade out of lemons with this procurement delay.
“By coming forward for April 2027, the same time that soft film recycling is due to come forward, we will be able to bring forward both systems at the same time, which I think we can all appreciate is something that is challenging in getting messages out to residents about multiple different changes to their recycling and rubbish collection systems.
“I think this is a real opportunity to bring both forward in 2027, and I have very good faith that we will be able to successfully do so ”
The news was welcomed by opposition councillors.
Cllr Anne Thompson (Liberal Democrats, Tilehurst) said: “Lib Dems have been asking for this for some time. I’m sorry that it’s going to take another year, but I appreciate that there are benefits of timing with the soft plastics recycling.”
Cllr Kate Nikulina (Green, Katesgrove) added: “This is a sensible step forward to simpler and fairer recycling, it will allow people to recycle more, especially those who have no access or can’t go to the bottle bank.”
Councillors unanimously accepted the timeline for the implementation of kerbside glass recycling on December 17, 2025.
The possibility of recycling film was brought up by former council leader Jason Brock during an interview with the Local Democracy Reporting Service back in May 2023.
