New waste and recycling collection service to start in October

Cllr Beswick recycles food waste

The new waste and recycling service collections start in October. Food and garden waste will be collected every week in brown bins with all other bins collected every three weeks.

http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/97733/three-weekly-bin-collections-given-the-go-ahead

Households will be given a silver kitchen caddy to store their food waste and free compostable bags which the council will provide on an ongoing basis. Households will no longer need to pay for additional compostable bags. Households without brown bins will be given a free brown street caddy which is the size of small pedal bin. This brown caddy should be kept outside with other bins.

The new scheme means households will be able to recycle all cooked and uncooked food, including left overs. This means food waste like meat, fish, bones and vegetable peelings can now all be recycled instead of going in general rubbish bins. This will help reduce the opportunity for smells from the rubbish bin and create more space for the things residents cannot yet recycle.

Councillor Jacqui Beswick, Cabinet Member for Environment said: “I would like to thank everyone who took part in the consultation for the new service proposal. We listened to what people had to say and have developed the service with residents’ concerns in mind. For example, compostable bags will be provided for free on an ongoing basis and residents’ individual circumstances will be considered if they request a second rubbish bin. We understand that not everyone’s circumstances will be the same and we aim to help everyone who wants to recycle more.

“The council needs to make savings of £37 million over the next two years which means we need to do things differently. It is five times cheaper to recycle food waste than it is to simply throw it away in the dark green bin. Taking food waste out of the rubbish bin and recycling it into compost, locally in the North West, will help us achieve the £1 million saving.”

Collection dates can be checked at:

http://applications.rochdale.gov.uk/RefuseCollectionCalendar/Home/Index

Information packs with all details on the new service and a bin collections calendar will be distributed to households shortly. Residents should check their new calendar as the collection days may change in some areas.