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Express was given a chance to try out the new bin bag stickers, which we'll all have to use when we throw out a bag of non recyclable rubbish from next February onwards.
They'll cost £1.40 for a sticker for a small bag, or £2.50 for a sticker for a larger bag under the new waste strategy which is currently being phased in.
Some people aren't too happy about the new system though and there have been reports of people saying they'll buy their own cheaper ones, while other householders are worried their stickers might be peeled off to be used by someone else.
A spokesman for Guernsey Recycling said it would be costly to have your own stickers produced, because the island has ordered them in bulk to get them at the price we'll pay for them in the shops from next year.
They're also pretty tricky to peel off, as Express staff and family members found out:
Bin bag stickers from Bailiwick Express on Vimeo.
Above: We tried, and failed to peel the new bin bag stickers off when we had a go this week.
The stickers given to Express to try were a prototype, with two different backs. One was easier to peel off and it's likely that will be the type for sale in local supermarkets and other convenience stores from next year.
They'll be available in packs of four or ten, meaning for a family who recycle everything they can and only put out a bin bag once a fortnight, you may only have to buy a larger packet up to three times a year.
Pictured: Leaflets have started going out to homes this week with more information about the stickers we'll have to put on our bin bags from next year.
As well as a standing charge of £85 each household will have to pay from next year, every bag of non recyclable waste put out for collection will need a sticker on it. Clear and blue recycling bags, food waste and glass will continue to be collected for free.
The team behind the waste strategy appear to be going for a light touch effort to encourage everyone to take part in the new scheme, but penalties will be charged against those who refuse to use the new system.
As well as a £60 fixed penalty fine for attempting to avoid the new charges, there will be fines of up to £20,000 for anyone found guilty of fly tipping. Trying to copy the new bin bag stickers will also be a criminal offence under existing laws covering fraud and counterfeiting.
Pictured: Counterfeiting a bin bag sticker will land you with a criminal record, warns the States funded leaflet.
Early indications are that Guernsey's new waste strategy is working well.
Having been introduced in September so everyone can get used to it before the new charges come in, States Trading Assets which is running the programme said "six hundred tonnes of food waste and glass" have been picked up from peoples' doorsteps and taken out of the waste stream for recycling.
The new waste transfer facility at Longue Hougue is also now working, with the first "test bales of refuse derived fuel produced this week."
Kerbside recycling of other items such as paper and tins has also increased by around 30% since the start of the new collections meaning general household black bag waste has fallen as a result, by more than 40%.
Pictured: The new waste transfer facility at Longue Hougue is now operating under test conditions.
States Trading Assets Deputy Managing Director, Richard Evans, said the 'implementation phase' was reaching its conclusion.
“There are lots of different systems within the new facility, all provided by different manufacturers who will have engineers on site as we go through the testing and commissioning. Each system has to be tested independently, to make sure it is installed correctly and all the settings are correct," he said.
“That includes the equipment for processing general waste, the machinery that turns it into bales, the food waste processing kit, odour extraction system, and all the ancillary items such as weighbridges and the accompanying software.
“Only when we are satisfied that each and every component is working as it should be will we commence the commissioning phase. Everything has gone very smoothly up to this point, and we estimate that we have another two weeks or so of testing to complete. Then it will quite literally be all systems go.
“The commissioning phase is not delayed. At the start of construction, before sticking aspade in the ground, we estimated the earliest we might reach the stage we are at now would be October 2018. That was not a schedule for commissioning or any sort of deadline, it just gave as us a date by which we had to ensure all the different materials were being picked up in the right combinations. Just in case we could accelerate the start of exports.
“So working back from that, to give the parishes time to plan for the introduction of the newfood waste and glass pick-ups and agree their annual charges, we set a date for introducing the new collections in September this year. We could not have left it any later than that, and it provided for a period of bedding in, in case there were any initial teething troubles.
“We are now at the end of the construction period, we are really pleased with how it has all progressed and we are nearly there.”
Pictured top: The new stickers for 'black bag waste' to be used from February 2019.
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