Introduction of a second recycling bin for residents dedicated to paper and cardboard.
Ealing weighs division of household recycling
Documents show that the council has laid the ground to introduce separate bins for paper and cardboard.
Key Takeaways
1. Possible introduction of a second recycling bin. Ealing Council is considering moving to a “twin-stream” recycling system.
This would mean:
One bin for paper & cardboard
One bin for glass, plastics & metals
Brent Council already uses this system.
👉 The contract has been designed so Ealing can switch without needing a new procurement process.
♻️ How recycling currently works in Ealing
Waste is collected from households
Taken to Greener Ealing depot (Greenford)
Bulked and transported to:
N&P Crayford MRF Ltd (materials recycling facility near Dartford)
💰 Financial model explained
Ealing pays N&P Crayford:
A gate fee (to process recycling)
A disposal fee (for non-recyclable contamination)
N&P:
Sells the recovered materials
Shares some revenue with councils
👉 BUT:
The sale value of recyclables is lower than the processing cost
This is how the contractor makes profit
Example:
N&P profits (post-tax):
2025: £8.2M
2024: £5.6M
Dividends also increased significantly.
📦 New paper & cardboard contract
West London Waste Authority can now:
Sell paper/cardboard to
Smurfit Westrock Recovered Fibre Ltd
Purpose:
Prepare for higher volumes of separated paper/cardboard
Enable Ealing to adopt twin-stream recycling smoothly
Cost pressures
Ealing’s recycling budget (2026–27): £3.79M
Costs are linked to inflation, so expected to rise annually
How the council plans to control costs
The report highlights several strategies:
Improve recycling quality
Better public communication
Reduce contamination (wrong items in bins)
Operational efficiencies
Remove contamination earlier (at depot stage)
Increase load sizes for transport (lower cost per tonne)
System-level change
Push for producers to pay more for packaging lifecycle (Extended Producer Responsibility)
What this means overall
Moving to two bins could improve recycling quality and value
But:
It may require behaviour change from residents
It doesn’t guarantee cost savings
The system is still fundamentally:
Cost-heavy, with contractors profiting from processing