A serious side to England’s funny funnel bins

The UK and Australia are trying to reduce litter on motorways and free up maintenance teams to pursue more urgent – and less dangerous - work Giant funnel bins are being installed at a dozen UK motorway service areas in north-west England. The bins, either 1.8m or 2.2m high, are next to Give Way lines at the exit of service area car parks. The bins allow both car and truck drivers to reach the half-metre-wide funnels from their vehicle window. Highways England is hoping that the bins’ ease of use will en
December 14, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
The UK and Australia are trying to reduce litter on motorways and free up maintenance teams to pursue more urgent – and less dangerous - work


Giant funnel bins are being installed at a dozen UK motorway service areas in north-west England. The bins, either 1.8m or 2.2m high, are next to Give Way lines at the exit of service area car parks. The bins allow both car and truck drivers to reach the half-metre-wide funnels from their vehicle window. 8100 Highways England is hoping that the bins’ ease of use will encourage drivers to deposit their refuse before leaving the rest area and not throw it out of the car window along the motorway.

The road agency estimates that more than 40,000 sacks of rubbish were collected off motorways in the region last year.

It costs taxpayers an estimated €45 for each sack of litter collected from motorways – roughly the same cost as fixing a pothole, according to Highways England. Collecting rubbish close to fast-moving traffic can also put workers at risk.

Meanwhile, in Australia, 6508 Main Roads WA will expand its six-month trial initiative to remove 270 roadside bins from Kimberley area highways to reduce litter. About 200 bins were removed and replaced with skip-bin disposal points at 24-hour rest-stops, according to Australian media reports.

Main Roads has said the initiative is “generally” supported by road users.

“The amount of loose litter in parking bays is much less than when litter bins were present and there has been no noticeable increase in the amount of roadside litter,”
it said.

Highway & Network Management

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • TRA 2018: pavement additives can stretch a road’s lifespan
    May 9, 2018
    Glass fibre and old tyres can help reduce road wear, according to recent research. Alan Dron reports from the Transport Research Arena – TRA 2018 – event in Vienna. Environmental issues were close to the heart of many presentations at this year’s event at the Reed Exhibition Messe in the Austrian capital from April 16-19. This included decarbonisation – such as making engines more environmentally friendly – and the challenge of digitalisation to create a more efficient transport system.
    Read More
  • Land costs push up the price tag of the Dhaka-Chittagong Expressway
    August 23, 2018
    Ballooning land acquisition costs are pushing up the cost of the proposed 217km Dhaka-Chittagong Expressway, according to media reports. Under the project, the highways directorate has already widened 190km of the two-lane highway to four-lanes and constructed three flyovers. The sources also said now the agency has estimated the cost for constructing the full 217km at nearly US$2.4 billion without land acquisition cost.
    Read More
  • The strangest things are found spread across motorways
    December 1, 2015
    It’s often a messy business cleaning up a motorway after a truck has shed its load, and the strangest of loads have been accidentally spread down the blacktop in the UK, according to Highways England. The most recent incident was a slippery affair for maintenance crews – 24tonnes of lard that took a day to clean up, closing the motorway for 24 hours. From toilet roll and toxic waste to wine and washing up liquid for dishes, clean-up crews sometimes must tread lightly as they go about their business. They
    Read More
  • Rebuilding a historic bridge linking the US and Canada
    March 8, 2016
    While many road authorities in North America are finding it difficult to stretch their bridge assets beyond half a century, one bridge is closing in on its centenary - David Arminas reports The international Peace Bridge, connecting the Canadian province of Ontario with the US state of New York, is 88 years young this year, and still going strong.
    Read More

Highlighted Content