Underground bins could replace wheelies

WHEELIE bins at new housing developments in Cardiff could be replaced by large underground bins.

Cardiff council said they are aware of similar schemes in Europe and will “discuss the merits” of the idea with planning officers for future developments in the city.

The system would see residents take their waste, including recycling, to steel bin chutes set into the pavement outside their homes.

It would mean that wheelie bins become a thing of the past, with sensors ensuring a rubbish truck is sent out to empty the rubbish when the chambers fill up.

Supporters of the scheme say it replaces ugly wheelie bins and stops rubbish trucks clogging up the roads when they are not needed. A trial of underground bins has recently been launched on a new estate in Cambridge, replacing around 9,000 wheelie bins.

Each of the underground chambers replaces around 20 wheelie bins, with specialist lorries using cranes to lift the containers out of the ground. There will be 450 underground bins when the Cambridge site is finished.

If the scheme came to Cardiff, warning signs that appear on bins in Cambridge could also appear, to tell people not to climb into the chutes.

New wheelie bins were introduced in Cardiff in 2015 and the council’s bins boss recently said more homes in the city could be given them.