Summary
- The majority of Garden Waste Service subscribers will have a change of collection day next month due to a rerouting of rounds to make them more efficient. The changes take effect from 10 May and those affected will be written to.
- Recycle More is scheduled to launch South Somerset at the end of June and engagement with the public will start in earnest from next week.
- Recycling sites continue to be busy. Current on-site safety measures will continue at least until the next stage in the lifting of Covid restrictions.
Garden Waste – collect day changes
Due to a rerouting of collection routes, the majority of subscribers to SWP’s garden waste service will see a change of collection day next month.
This follows a review of all the collection routes to make them more efficient, reducing mileage wherever possible and thereby limiting impaction the environment. It also aims to improve the service quality and reduce levels of garden waste missed collections.
There are around 54,000 subscribers to the service, and in the region of 45,000 will see a change in their collection day from 10 May.
All those having a change, whether renewing a subscription from last year or starting with the service for the first time, will be written to.
Due to the Covid disruption of the garden waste collections last year, existing subscriptions were extended. Renewed and new subscriptions will run for 12 months from 10 May this year.
The service is going stickerless for the first time thanks to new technology. Stickers will no longer be issued for bin lids, with the crews instead using in-cab tech and real-time information to know who has subscribed and needs a collection.
Recycle More update
The expanded recycling collections continue to perform well in Mendip and attention is now focussed on the introduction of the new service in South Somerset. This is scheduled to happen at the end of June.
As well as reducing waste and helping protect the environment, the new service will cost all partners less. You can find details of the new service and how it is being introduced in phases here www.someretwaste.gov.uk/recycle-more
Key points include:
- Extra items added to weekly recycling collections – notably plastic pots, tubs and trays (as well as cartons, small electrical items and small household batteries)
- All residents issued with a new recycling container – a Bright Blue Bag – to help hold some of the extra material
- Rubbish bins collected every three weeks instead of two – more recycling means less rubbish
Engagement with elected members and wider stakeholders in South Somerset is underway. Public awareness raising and engagement will start in earnest in the coming weeks. This will see increased interest in the change and we will be encouraging South Somerset residents to get ready for the new service, for example by making sure they have the full range of recycling containers.
All residents will be written to twice before anything changes and extra advice and support will be provided to help the change go smoothly. Recycle More is scheduled to be rolled-out in the Taunton Deane area in the autumn and Sedgemoor and West Somerset early next year. Further updates will be provided as progress continues.
All 16 sites continue to operate with additional safety measures and remain busy. These measures will continue at least until the next stage of the easing of lockdown restrictions in mid-May, as will our ‘essential journeys only’ message.
The Reuse Shop has reopened at the Priorswood site, with facemasks required and limits on the number of people in the shop at any time.