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# Cabinet member says Lichfield District Council had “no alternative” but to accept blue bags despite concerns over size
- URL: https://lichfieldlive.co.uk/cabinet-member-says-lichfield-district-council-had-no-alternative-but-to-accept-blue-bags-despite-concerns-over-size/
- Published: 2023-10-19T06:04:00.000Z
- Updated: 2023-10-19T07:33:15.000Z
- Description: No refund or replacement of blue recycling bags deemed to be the incorrect size has or will be received, a Lichfield District Council chief has confirmed.
- Author: Lichfield Live
- Tags: Environment, Politics, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-07-22 18:58, News

No refund or replacement of blue recycling bags deemed to be the incorrect size has or will be received, a Lichfield District Council chief has confirmed.

The roll-out of the new joint waste service last year saw households forced to separate card and paper from other recyclables.

But issues over the size of the bags saw calls from councillors for the issue to be rectified.

Cllr Steve Norman, Labour representative for Chase Terrace ward, asked for an update at a meeting of Lichfield District Council.

> “An order for 280,000 blue bags was submitted by this council on behalf of five authorities in Staffordshire for paper, card and cardboard recycling and distributed to residents early last year.  
>  
> “At that time members supported the council requesting a refund or replacement  
> bags from the supplier because although the contract was for 81-litre capacity bags many  
> were as small as 57-litres.  
>  
> “Can the cabinet member set out what the result of that action was as I have not seen a report in the intervening 16 months?”  
>  
> Cllr Steve Norman, Lichfield District Council

Cllr Mike Wilcox, cabinet member for waste, recycling, ecology and climate change, said that although a review had identified issues with the bags, the council had “no alternative” but to accept them.

> “A thorough review of the roll out of the new waste service was undertaken, with results reported to the overview and scrutiny committee in November 2022.  
>  
> “The review identified a number of problems with the purchase and roll out of the new service, and a number of important lessons to ensure the same mistakes are not made again.  
>  
> “Specifically in relation to the bags themselves, investigations were undertaken following initial concerns raised about the size and quality of the bags supplied to the five councils. An independent auditor was procured to test the bags, which took play in May 2022.  
>  
> “The tests showed the bags varied in size, some of which were smaller than the tolerances applied, however a number of samples were also found over size which clearly contributed to the concerns raised with visual differences between bags raised by residents.  
>  
> “The independent auditor also found that measurement of the internal dimensions of the bags is almost impossible to achieve accurately and as such this was not recorded on the day. The volume of the bags also varied within the samples tested.  
>  
> “The tested bags were filled to slightly below the actual top of the bags, such that closure could be achieved without spillage of the contents. The auditor was satisfied that the filled bags would ‘almost certainly result in the overall average volume being equal to or greater than the 81 litres specified’.  
>  
> “Given the outcome of these tests, and the limitations of the specification agreed by the five councils before the procurement was commenced, the council had no alternative other than to accept the bags supplied met the tolerances of that specification.”  
>  
> Cllr Mike Wilcox, Lichfield District Council