Recycling is set to soar in Taunton Deane this November with the arrival of Recycle More.
The expanded weekly recycling collections from Somerset Waste Partnership (SWP) will be launched to the area’s 56,000 households at the beginning of November.
Most people in Somerset are recycling and Recycle More is making it easier for everyone to do even more, protecting the environment and helping tackle climate change.
The service is already delivering more than 100 tonnes of extra recycling each week in both Mendip and South Somerset. A customer survey in Mendip found that after six months, 84% of respondents said they preferred the new service over the old.
The latest phase of the roll-out covers the same area as the former Taunton Deane Borough Council, including Taunton, Wellington and Wiveliscombe. West Somerset and Sedgemoor are scheduled to get the new service together early in 2022.
Recycle More adds the following items to weekly recycling collections:
- Plastic pots, tubs and trays
- Food and drink cartons
- Small batteries
- Small electrical items
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.
All Taunton Deane residents 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 guide to what recycling goes into which container.
Mickey Green, SWP Managing Director, said: “Recycle More means everyone doing things a little differently so it’s good to start thinking and preparing now – but please do not stockpile material for the new collections.
“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 detail can be found on the SWP website www.somersetwaste.gov.uk/recycle-more
And you can start preparing for Recycle More now by making sure you have the container you need to make full use of weekly collections.
Everyone can have a green and a black recycling box, plus a food waste bin. New or replacement containers can be ordered free of charge from the SWP website using the My Waste Service feature or by calling your local district council.
Extra support is available for anyone with concerns about Recycle More. Please visit somersetwaste.gov.uk/recycle-more for more information or check the leaflets coming through your front door next month.
Garden and clinical waste collections will not change with Recycle More.
For information about how to reduce and reuse your waste, visit www.somersetwaste.gov.uk and follow @somersetwaste on Twitter and Facebook.