THE mysterious mass disappearance of small piggy-back recycling bins from the borough is causing anger and bewilderment, councillors claim.

The issue was raised at a meeting of the full Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council when councillors suggested the small plastic bins used in the rural areas were "recycled" by being thrown into the crushers of council dustcarts.

Councillor Mark Ruffell, who represents Upton Grey and the Candovers, said: "They are disappearing at such a rate they are systematically being disposed of by waste collectors."

He said there is huge anger in his ward because residents feel they are being prevented from recycling waste properly.

Cllr Horace Mitchell said he agreed there was a problem with what he termed "the mystery of the missing little green bins".

He said: "In the far north west of the borough, we suffer from this mystery. In my estate, only one person had a little green bin and it has now gone."

Cllr Ian Tilbury, from Overton, said residents in rural parts of his ward found it difficult to obtain the clear plastic sacks that were the alternative to piggy-back bins.

He also suggested stickers could be used to indicate that grey bins were being used just for recycling when people found their green bins too small.

Labour's Cllr George Hood, deputy council leader, said he launched the piggy-back bins and was now worried they were becoming "an endangered species".

However, despite the concerns over recycling, a Conservative proposal for the council to put aside £100,000 for green bin recycling in rural areas and to put £120,000 into public education on the subject was defeated.

Cabinet member Cllr David Potter, whose portfolio covers recycling, said extending the full-size recycling bins to rural areas and altering the collection rounds to take account of the extra volume would be expensive.

He said: "I think we all know it's not just a question of providing green bins. There are substantial revenue implications with it."

He said the council is committed to extending recycling, but it would have to be sustainable and not premature in the way the Conservatives were proposing.

After the meeting, Cllr Potter said: "We have had some complaints that bins have disappeared into lorries, not to be seen again. But we constantly talk to our contractor Onyx about operatives and the care they should take in this regard."

He said where bins had fallen off into the crushers, letters of apology had been written to householders and either replacement bins provided or clear sacks.

He added: "If we found any examples of deliberate vandalism or worse, we would take steps, and so would Onyx."

Some 60,000 of the 35-litre piggy-back bins were issued to households from 1996. Larger recycling bins were introduced in urban areas from 2001.

The council estimates that 12,000 properties are using the piggy-backs or clear sacks.

The cost of buying new recycling bins for the rural areas is put at nearly £200,000.

First published: Friday, March 4, 2005