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Number of people trying to replace broken North Somerset recycling bags not safe
North Somerset Council has postponed a bag swap event in Portishead, the second such cancellation, citing unsafe crowds at previous events. The council is now distributing replacement bags via recycling rounds after production defects caused many red bags to deteriorate.
North Somerset Council has stopped hosting events for residents to exchange damaged red recycling bags, according to reports from Bristol Post and Somerset Live. In a Facebook post, the council’s recycling team said: “Unfortunately, we do not believe there is enough space during the summer holidays to safely accommodate the numbers we have seen attending the other events.” The decision follows the postponement of an event planned for Monday August 24 in Portishead, which had been intended for people to swap unusable red bags for new ones. It is the second event to be axed.
The first of four planned events, held in a Weston-super-Mare car park on August 13, drew hundreds of people. Attendees queued for over an hour on what was reported as the hottest day of the year so far. The next event in Nailsea on August 18 was even more popular: the council swapped 800 red bags before running out, and people were turned away.
The council attributed the cancellations to the high demand, noting that some people whose bags had faded but not yet disintegrated had also tried to attend, inflating numbers. The events were designed for those whose bags had become unusable and could not wait for replacements.
The Problem with Red Bags
North Somerset Council introduced red bags for household plastic and metal recycling last year, but a “defect in production” meant they quickly turned white and began to disintegrate in sunlight. The first 6,000 bags, introduced as a trial in November 2024, had received a positive reception, though some residents found them too large. The council then ordered slightly smaller bags, which were distributed to all households from the end of March 2025. Both orders were placed with the same “very reputable firm,” but bags from the full rollout began deteriorating within months, while the original trial bags were unaffected.
The council stated in December 2025 it had received a refund for the defective bags after a “lengthy negotiation period.” It now estimates that 75% of the bags across the district need to be replaced, and has received 88,000 replacement bags believed not to suffer the same defect.
Alternative Arrangements
With no more bag swap events planned, residents can still get new red bags. The council is distributing through a separate truck that follows recycling crews on their rounds while replacing damaged or faded bags, with a plan to cover the whole district by spring. The council urged residents: “Please continue to recycle while you wait for your new bag. You can use your existing recycling boxes and other containers, including carrier bags and boxes no larger than a standard recycling box, to sort recycling for collection if your red bag is unusable.”
One attendee at the first event, Weston-super-Mare children’s entertainer Abe Bowen, described the experience: “It was beyond us how the simple act of giving an old bag over and getting a new bag was taking so long.” He added that people stood in an hour-long queue in full sun, with no shade, water, or toilets, and most of those queuing were pensioners.
How each outlet told it
Bristol Post
Framing: The headline emphasizes the unsafety of the number of people trying to replace bags, but does not mention the specific council action of stopping events or the cause of the bag defect. — Neutral/objective; the tone is factual and straightforward, reflecting the council's statements without overt emotional language.
Facts Included:
North Somerset Council has stopped hosting events for people to get new recycling bags as the numbers turning up were not safe.
An event planned in Portishead on Monday August 24 for people to exchange damaged red recycling bags for new ones has been postponed.
It is the second of the planned events to be axed.
The council’s recycling team said in a post on Facebook: “Unfortunately, we do not believe there is enough space during the summer holidays to safely accommodate the numbers we have seen attending the other events.”
Hundreds of people turned up to the first of the four planned bag swap events, held in a Weston-super-Mare car park on August 13.
It saw many people queueing for over an hour on the hottest day of the year.
The next event, in Nailsea on August 18, was even more popular, with the council swapping 800 red bags before they ran out and people had to be turned away.
North Somerset Council introduced red bags for household plastic and metal recycling last year but a “defect in production” meant they quickly began turning white and disintegrating if left in the sun.
No more bag swap events are planned but does not mean people cannot get a new red bag.
The council is distributing them to all households with a separate truck following recycling crews on their rounds and replacing damaged or faded red bags.
They expect to get round the whole district by spring.
The events were intended for people whose red bags had become unusable and could not wait that long.
The council said that people with red bags which had turned white but had not yet begun falling apart had also been turning up to get a new one, inflating the numbers.
Weston-super-Mare based children’s entertainer Abe Bowen, who was among the people who attended the first event, said: “It was beyond us how the simple act of giving an old bag over and getting a new bag was taking so long.”
He said people stood in an hour-long queue in full sun. There was no shade, water, or toilets and most people queuing were pensioners. The event took place on the hottest day of the year so far.
The council originally introduced just 6,000 red bags as a trial in November 2024.
They received a positive reception, although some people found the bags too large.
The council then ordered slightly smaller bags which were rolled out to all households across North Somerset from the end of March 2025.
Both orders were placed with the same “very reputable firm.”
There have never been any issues with the 6,000 red bags ordered for the original trial, but the bags ordered for the full rollout began deteriorating within months.
The council stated in December 2025 that it had received a refund for the defective bags after a “lengthy negotiation period.”
The council estimates that 75% of the bags need to be replaced across the district.
It has received 88,000 replacement red bags which are not believed to suffer the same defect.
The council said: “Please continue to recycle while you wait for your new bag. You can use your existing recycling boxes and other containers, including carrier bags and boxes no larger than a standard recycling box, to sort recycling for collection if your red bag is unusable.”
Framing: The headline emphasizes the unsafety of the number of people trying to replace bags, but does not mention the specific council action of stopping events or the cause of the bag defect. It includes a subheadline 'Hundreds have been turning up to events to get a new recycling bag' that highlights the demand. — Neutral/objective; the tone is factual and straightforward, reflecting the council's statements without overt emotional language, but the subheadline adds emphasis on the scale of turnout.
Facts Included:
North Somerset Council has stopped hosting events for people to get new recycling bags as the numbers turning up were not safe.
An event planned in Portishead on Monday August 24 for people to exchange damaged red recycling bags for new ones has been postponed.
It is the second of the planned events to be axed.
The council’s recycling team said in a post on Facebook: “Unfortunately, we do not believe there is enough space during the summer holidays to safely accommodate the numbers we have seen attending the other events.”
Hundreds of people turned up to the first of the four planned bag swap events, held in a Weston-super-Mare car park on August 13.
It saw many people queueing for over an hour on the hottest day of the year.
The next event, in Nailsea on August 18, was even more popular, with the council swapping 800 red bags before they ran out and people had to be turned away.
North Somerset Council introduced red bags for household plastic and metal recycling last year but a “defect in production” meant they quickly began turning white and disintegrating if left in the sun.
No more bag swap events are planned but does not mean people cannot get a new red bag.
The council is distributing them to all households with a separate truck following recycling crews on their rounds and replacing damaged or faded red bags.
They expect to get round the whole district by spring.
The events were intended for people whose red bags had become unusable and could not wait that long.
The council said that people with red bags which had turned white but had not yet begun falling apart had also been turning up to get a new one, inflating the numbers.
Weston-super-Mare based children’s entertainer Abe Bowen, who was among the people who attended the first event, said: “It was beyond us how the simple act of giving an old bag over and getting a new bag was taking so long.”
He said people stood in an hour-long queue in full sun. There was no shade, water, or toilets and most people queuing were pensioners. The event took place on the hottest day of the year so far.
The council originally introduced just 6,000 red bags as a trial in November 2024.
They received a positive reception, although some people found the bags too large.
The council then ordered slightly smaller bags which were rolled out to all households across North Somerset from the end of March 2025.
Both orders were placed with the same “very reputable firm.”
There have never been any issues with the 6,000 red bags ordered for the original trial, but the bags ordered for the full rollout began deteriorating within months.
The council stated in December 2025 that it had received a refund for the defective bags after a “lengthy negotiation period.”
The council estimates that 75% of the bags need to be replaced across the district.
It has received 88,000 replacement red bags which are not believed to suffer the same defect.
The council said: “Please continue to recycle while you wait for your new bag. You can use your existing recycling boxes and other containers, including carrier bags and boxes no larger than a standard recycling box, to sort recycling for collection if your red bag is unusable.”
Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimNorth Somerset Council has stopped hosting events for people to get new recycling bags as the numbers turning up were not safe.
ClaimThe council’s recycling team said in a Facebook post: “Unfortunately, we do not believe there is enough space during the summer holidays to safely accommodate the numbers we have seen attending the other events.”
ClaimThe next event in Nailsea on August 18 was even more popular, with the council swapping 800 red bags before they ran out and people had to be turned away.
ClaimNorth Somerset Council introduced red bags for household plastic and metal recycling last year but a “defect in production” meant they quickly began turning white and disintegrating if left in the sun.
ClaimThe council is distributing new red bags to all households with a separate truck following recycling crews on their rounds and replacing damaged or faded red bags.
ClaimThe council said that people with red bags which had turned white but had not yet begun falling apart had also been turning up to get a new one, inflating the numbers.
ClaimWeston-super-Mare based children’s entertainer Abe Bowen, who was among the people who attended the first event, said: “It was beyond us how the simple act of giving an old bag over and getting a new bag was taking so long.”
ClaimThere have never been any issues with the 6,000 red bags ordered for the original trial, but the bags ordered for the full rollout began deteriorating within months.
ClaimThe council said: “Please continue to recycle while you wait for your new bag. You can use your existing recycling boxes and other containers, including carrier bags and boxes no larger than a standard recycling box, to sort recycling for collection if your red bag is unusable.”