Three-weekly collections of general rubbish and upgraded weekly recycling collections are to be introduced across the Burnham-On-Sea area early in 2022, it has been confirmed this week.
The expanded weekly recycling collections from Somerset Waste Partnership (SWP), which are branded as ‘Recycle More’, are currently being rolled out across Somerset.
The service aims to make it easier for residents to do more recycling and in turn protect the environment and tackle climate change.
Sedgemoor – which includes Burnham-On-Sea, Highbridge, Brent Knoll, Brean, the Huntspills and the surrounding area – is scheduled to get the new service early in 2022, alongside West Somerset.
An SWP spokesman told Burham-On-Sea.com: “Extra weekly recycling means far less rubbish, so rubbish bins or black sacks will be collected every three weeks instead of every two. Collection days will change for more than half of households.”
“Every home will have a new recycling container – a ‘Bright Blue Bag’ – delivered a week or two before the new service starts.”
The new service is already delivering more than 100 tonnes of extra recycling each week in both Mendip and South Somerset, where the service has already launched. A customer survey in Mendip found that after six months, 84% of respondents said they preferred the new service over the old.
Each resident will be sent information about Recycle More twice before the service starts, at around six weeks and three weeks before launch. This will include a collection day calendar and a guide to what recycling goes into which container.
Recycle More will add these items to weekly collections: Plastic pots, tubs and trays; Food and drink cartons; Small batteries and Small electrical items.
Mickey Green, SWP Managing Director, adds: “Almost all the recycling we collected last year stayed in the UK to be turned into new products and packaging. Somerset has a great recycling record, but still half the contents of the average bin could have been recycled.”
More details are on the SWP website at www.somersetwaste.gov.uk/recycle-more and extra support is available for anyone with concerns about Recycle More.
Garden and clinical waste collections will not change.
