Collection day changes

To make the recycling and refuse collections more efficient and reliable, there will be some changes to the routes the crews use to get around the borough from 25 March.

These routes haven’t been updated for a long time and they aren’t as resilient as they need to be.

The new routes will see all the crews out in an area on the same day, instead of travelling from one end of the borough to the other as can happen now.

This will mean that if one round is behind, others in the area can help them complete it on the same day. It will also reduce the fuel bill for the vehicles and help reduce emissions that can affect local air quality.

We'll also be collecting bins earlier in the day, so they need to be out by 6am.

We've sent letters to households letting them know what day we’ll be collecting each of their bins from 25 March, and including information about any transition arrangements they may have.

The new collection days, though not the transition arrangements, can be checked using our bin day look up tool.

Transition arrangements

During the first couple of weeks, some households will have more than the usual two weeks to wait between their collections.

The letters explain what they can do with additional recycling and waste if they need to wait longer than the usual two weeks. This information is specific to the address, and not everyone will have the same arrangements, so it’s important people keep the letter and follow the advice for their property.

We'll still be collecting on the scheduled days over the Easter bank holiday weekend.

Recycling

For recycling, if there’s more than two weeks between collections, people can leave any extra that won’t fit in their blue bin in boxes or clear sacks next to their bin, and we’ll pick it up on their new collection day. If there is too much extra recycling for the normal crew to take, a separate crew will be back later in the day to collect it.

General waste

For general waste, if there is more than the usual two weeks between collection, but less than three weeks, people can put up to three black sacks of waste out next to their bins.

If there is more than a three-week gap between general waste collections, there will be an additional general waste collection the week beginning 25 March. We can’t say what day this will be, so people should put their green bin out every day that week until it’s collected.

Because the rounds are new to the drivers and crews, we want them to focus on getting used to, and completing, their new routes. This means they will only be collecting the bins, and any side waste will be collected by a separate vehicle on the same day.

Bear with us

We know that any changes to collections can cause confusion and concerns, and whilst we’ve provided information and advice on what to do, there could still be issues with collections.

When these arise, we will work to resolve them as quickly as possible, but we are asking for patience and understanding whilst we move to the new arrangements, which we’re confident will deliver a better service in future.