Cory Environmental and Southend Borough Council have developed a new range of recycling sacks specifically designed to help blind and partially sighted residents in Southend sort their recyclables and residual waste. Approximately 100 people go blind in the UK every year and there are 3,000 blind and visually impaired residents in Southend alone.
The whole project came about thanks to Jill Allen-King, a member of the National Federation of the Blind, contacting Southend Borough Council to explain the difficulty that blind residents have in distinguishing the sacks. As a result, Cory three distinctive sacks were developed to make it easy for all residents to sort their recyclables.
The sacks are still colour coded to make it easy for seeing residents to use but now they are distinctive on a tactile level as well. For example, one sack is now made from a textured material to make it easy to identify and another has been given handles.
Paul Redman, Director, Cory Environmental Municipal Services, said: “The idea behind the tactile sacks is very simple but effective and we are really pleased with the end result. The new sacks will help make household recycling more accessible to residents who would otherwise have real difficulty sorting their waste for collection.”
The new scheme is the first of its kind to be launched in the UK and has been met with much enthusiasm from the blind community of Southend. The Southend branch of the National Federation of the Blind has been awarded the President’s Cup for its efforts in making the lives of blind residents easier.
