A Bracknell resident has criticised the council for failing to stop the closure of a bottle bank in Sainsbury’s, Ringmead.

Ms Diana Henfrey asked a question to the executive member for environment and community cohesion, councillor Helen Purnell, at a Bracknell Forest Council (BFC) meeting on Wednesday, July 10.

The closure of the bottle bank at Sainsbury’s leaves the Bracknell town ward with no facility, despite it being the largest and most populated, according to Ms Henfrey.

At the meeting, Cllr Purnell told the resident that ‘the council had no input into Sainsbury’s decision to remove the banks and no longer provide the glass recycling on their site'.

She also said that following that decision, BFC increased the bottle bank capacity at the two closest sites, in the Aldi Supermarket carpark at Birch Hill, and in Crown Wood shops.

Sainsbury's was reported to be closing 275 of their bottle recycling points across the UK in October 2023.

At the time, a spokesperson for the supermarket giant told ITV: “As recycling of materials such as glass and cardboard is available from home with local councils, we’re prioritising services at our stores that people cannot get elsewhere.”

The executive member also reminded the resident that there were 19 sites across the borough to recycle bottles.

Ms Henfrey then used her supplementary question  –  which councillors don’t see prior to the meeting  – to criticise Cllr Purnell’s response. She asked the member to list all 19 sites and their ownership referred to in her response

She went on to say that she had ‘spent about 40 minutes’ at a bottle bank at St Micheals and St Mary Magdalene’s church putting bottles that had been ‘dumped’ there.

“That’s why I was prompted to ask why the bottle bank provision as Sainsbury’s is no longer there,” she continued.

Mayor Jenny Penford briefly interjected to ask Ms Henfrey to ask her question. She then said: “It’s a rhetorical question – I’m very, very surprised that the council does not seem to find it necessary to negotiate with one of the UK’s largest supermarkets on the issue of bottle bank provision.”

In response, Cllr Purnell said: “There was quite a few questions in that one supplementary, I feel.”

It would have cost BFC £11,000 a year to keep the site running, according to Cllr Purnell, who also confirmed the council is not going to provide any more bottle bank sites across the borough.