East Devon district council is preparing for the roll-out of its three-weekly residual waste collection regime – which is due to start in the borough from 16 February.
Around 16,700 households in Exmouth have been contacted with details of the new collection service – to be delivered by contractor Suez. The company began a seven-year waste and recycling contract with the council in March 2016.
Homes in the port town of Exmouth will be the first to transition to the new waste collection service
Under the new regime, recycling and food waste will be collected on a weekly basis whilst grey residual waste bins will move from a fortnightly service to once every three weeks.
A trial of the new system to the waste and recycling collection system which was carried out in late 2015, involving 1,800 homes.
Roll-out
Exmouth is in the first phase of a two phase roll out of the new service which will be introduced to the rest of the East Devon district in June 2017.
Letters are being sent this week to all households included in the first phase detailing collection days for weekly recycling and food waste and dates for residual waste collections.
The reduced frequency residual waste collection system is also being phased in alongside an expansion of the kerbside green box recycling service, which sees cardboard, mixed plastic pots, tubs and trays and cartons collected from the kerbside.
Suez
Materials already collected from East Devon homes include plastic bottles, food and drink cans, foil, aerosols, paper and glass.
“The council is determined to offer residents a more sustainable method of recycling and waste collection that looks to the future, benefits the environment, helps our residents do the right thing by recycling more and is financially sustainable.”
Councillor Iain Chubb
East Devon
Recyclables from East Devon are sent to a materials recycling facility (MRF) operated in the borough by Suez at the Greendale Business Park.
Some households will be given an additional 75 litre reusable sturdy sack with a Velcro seal in which to collect their extra recyclables, which are to be delivered by Suez later this month.
Commenting on the service change, Councillor Iain Chubb, the council’s portfolio holder for the environment, said: “The council is determined to offer residents a more sustainable method of recycling and waste collection that looks to the future, benefits the environment, helps our residents do the right thing by recycling more and is financially sustainable.
“So many people we have spoken to at our information days are very positive about the new service and are really looking forward to being able to recycle more through their weekly collection, instead of throwing things away as rubbish.
“We are here to help our residents through these changes and we will have a dedicated team of officers who will be out on the streets of our district giving advice and assisting wherever they can when the service begins.”
Three-weekly
East Devon residents will have recyclables collected via a green box and bag system, as well as weekly food waste collections.
Increasing numbers of local authorities around the country are looking towards a three-weekly residual waste service in a bid to reduce costs and encourage residents to maximise recycling. In recent weeks the Somerset Waste Partnership has agreed to move to a three weekly residual service in 2017 (see letsrecycle.com story) following in the footsteps of authorities including Gwynedd in Wales and Falkirk in Scotland.
Critics of reduced frequency waste collection systems have questioned whether this method leads to higher dry recycling contamination rates.
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Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
