Good news on recycling front

Ever since we started collecting plastic bottles residents have been asking what about yoghurt pots and food trays. Ever since we started the garden waste collection residents have been asking for cardboard to be made weekly.

Well the good news is that from Monday 30th November the weekly collection is being expanded to include cardboard and household plastic packaging for recycling. This will help reduce the amount of our waste going to landfill and reduce our carbon footprint. It should also help reduce the amount of missed cardboard collection that has happened in several areas either because it has been put out on the wrong day or because the cardboard has been wrapped wrongly. It should also help areas that have been missed completely when the move to same day collection started.

Between 16th and 27th November 2009 the Council will deliver a leaflet about the changes along with a blue weatherproof bag - for cardboard and brown paper only - to every household covered by the green box recycling scheme. It is important that cardboard is kept separate from the newspapers and other kinds of paper that residents put in their recycling box because they are recycled separately. Once these new collections start, the Council will no longer collect cardboard mixed with the garden waste as this mix has become difficult to compost successfully.

Further information on what should be placed in the blue bag, recycling green box, and what types of plastic can be recycled is included in the Winter edition of Connect Magazine that will be distributed to all households across the district from mid-November. For more information about the new service, go to www.bathnes.gov.uk/cardboardandplastic or contact Council Connect on 01225 39 40 41 or councilconnect@bathnes.gov.uk

The bad news of course is that we still have to wait for Autumn 2011 before food waste is collected separately. This had been scheduled for Spring 2008 but has been delayed. It is the food waste in the bags that attract various wildlife to tear open the bags and spill mess everywhere.

To pay for it our Conservative Council will be increasing the garden waste collection service. It would be better if they abandoned their plans to build new Council offices in Keynsham!!!