THE controversial rollout of slim bins across Bolton has landed the council a national award for innovation.

Since the smaller bins were introduced across the borough last year, the council has saved £3.5 million in waste disposal costs as a result of reducing grey bin waste and increasing recycling.

That success has resulted in Bolton Council winning the prize for Best Innovation and Demand Management Initiative at the Association of Public Service Excellence (APSE) awards.

The rollout of the slim grey bins prompted a backlash from many angry residents, who argued that it would lead to an increase in rubbish-dumping.

In January, fire chiefs also claimed that the slim bins policy had increased the amount of fly-tipping and feared that it would lead to more arson attacks in the borough.

However, town hall chiefs are adamant that the bins have had the desired effect and have, in fact, saved almost treble the amount of money than was first anticipated.

In 2016, the council collected 10,000 tonnes less grey bin waste than in 2015 — the equivalent to 1,000 bin wagons full of waste that would have previously been sent for disposal.

Bolton’s recycling rate also rose to 50 per cent between May and August this year — meaning that half of all waste produced in the borough was being recycled.

Bolton Council’s executive cabinet member for environmental services, Cllr Nick Peel, said: “We are really pleased to have won this award, which demonstrates all the hard work our staff have put into introducing slim bins and encouraging people to recycle more.

“We’d also like to thank residents who adapted well to slim bins and began to recycle more, which has helped us achieve a recycling rate of 50 per cent. Many residents that were not previously recycling are now taking part and food waste recycling has increased significantly.

“We are now working to ensure residents understand that more unusual items like foil, foil trays and empty aerosol cans can be recycled in the burgundy bin and liquid food cartons such as Tetrapak can be recycled in the beige bin.”

The APSE awards recognise excellence in local government frontline services across the UK and were presented at a ceremony on Thursday night.

Bolton is also ranked in the top ten in the country for waste management initiatives — the authority was listed as eighth best by Government Business last month.