Should residents be asked to stop putting their plastic waste out for recycling and instead put it in their black bins instead?

That’s one of the questions in a survey about the future of waste collection in the town which will be issued by Swindon Borough Council on Monday.

Others will include whether it would be reasonable for refuse collectors to refuse to empty a black wheelie bin if it has too much other recyclable waste, such as tin cans, or glass bottles or paper and cardboard and whether householders would be prepared to pay for any additional recycling boxes they might need above the two issued free to every home in Swindon.

The survey comes as the town badly needs to increase its recycling rate from 38 per cent in 2016-17 to meet the nationally set legal requirement to recycle at least 50 per cent of waste collected by 2020.

The council’s cabinet member for highways and the environment, Coun Fionuala Foley, said: “Swindon’s continued growth, coupled with challenging recycling targets, means that the way we currently deal with waste will not be fit for purpose in the years to come.

“We need to recycle a lot more and we want to hear from residents on what they think about some of the measures we have proposed.”

The suggestion on not trying to recycle plastic comes as the market for recycled plastic has collapsed, with China, which used to take a lot of the UK’s plastics, banning the import of plastic waste in January.

If Swindonians are asked to put plastics such as bottles, yoghurt pots and tubs and trays into their black bins or blue bags it won’t be going to landfill. It will be sent with the rest of the rubbish to the plant at Cheney Manor where it is turned into solid fuel and used by commercial operations such as cement manufacturers for heat.

Coun Foley said: “If people agree to this and we go ahead, it will save the council tax payer about £450,000 a year in collecting plastic for recycling, and it will take three lorries a day off the road.”

The council says more plastic in the black bins would mean less space for items such as tin cans, and that would encourage recycling .

Coun Foley said: “We spent £190,000 last year taking tin out of the solid waste plant, which we could have sold if it had been in the recycling box.”

The survey is due to go live online at Swindon.gov.uk on Monday and the consultation period will run for six weeks.