New blue recycling bags are set to start arriving outside every house in the Burnham-On-Sea and Highridge area from next week in readiness for the start of a new weekly recycling service later in February.
General rubbish collections will be made every three weeks instead of every two but there were will be enhanced recycling collections instead.
Residents are asked to look out for – and hold on to – the “Recycle More is coming soon” leaflet which should start arriving in the week beginning 7th February.
It contains must-know information about the Somerset Waste Partnership (SWP) expanded recycling service being launched at the end of February.
The orange and blue leaflets contain an all-important collection day calendar. It is specific to your address and shows when recycling and rubbish will be collected for the next 12 months.
Two-thirds of homes will have a change in collection day so it is important to check.
The leaflet makes clear your first Recycle More collection date – the first time you should put out new materials and use the new Bright Blue Bag.
Some households will also have a one-off, extra Saturday rubbish collection before Recycle More starts. These are on 26th February or 5th March and this will be made clear on the cover of the leaflet and on the calendar if it applies.
What needs to go into each container changes with Recycle More, so the leaflet also includes a simple, colour coded ‘What goes where?’ diagram.
Whether you stick it on the fridge or pin it to a notice board, it is important to keep the “Coming soon” leaflet somewhere safe for future reference.
Delivery of Recycle More’s distinctive Bright Blue Bags will also start in the week beginning 7th February and should take around two weeks to reach all households.
The bags will be left somewhere easy to find near front doors, usually in an empty recycling container. Please DO NOT put the bag out until your first collection day, as shown in your leaflet calendar.
As bags are delivered, stickers will be stuck on everyone’s recycling boxes making it clear what needs to go where once Recycle More starts.
Recycle More adds the following items to weekly recycling collections: plastic pots, tubs and trays; food and drink cartons; small batteries; small electrical items.
With more being recycled, rubbish will be collected every three weeks instead of every two. Garden and clinical waste collections will not change.
The service is already up and running in Mendip, South Somerset and Taunton Deane and is delivering hundreds of tonnes of extra recycling each week.
Visit somersetwaste.gov.uk/recycle-more for more information. Extra guidance and support can be requested using a form on this page, or by calling your district council.
SWP is hosting Facebook Q&A Days about the new service. The next two take place on Friday 18 February and Wednesday 16 March, running from 7am to 7pm.
The best way to prepare for the change is to make full use weekly recycling collections and order more containers if you need them. Everyone can have a green and a black recycling box, plus a food waste bin – more than one if you regularly need more space.
All are FREE and easily ordered online using the My Waste Service menu on the SWP homepage.
Where it can, Recycle More will also improve recycling for homes with shared or communal collections, for example blocks of flats and homes of multiple occupancy.
These improvements will be brought in later in the year at a date to be confirmed and what is possible will depend on space and access.
