Almost 67,000 black wheeled rubbish bins are now being delivered to households throughout Wokingham Borough as part of the upcoming waste collection changes.
The rollout started last week, and will continue until the end of July – but residents should not use their new bin yet, as they will not be emptied until the new service starts in August.
The new 180-litre rubbish bins, made in Britain by IPL, are arriving at the council’s depot in batches of about 1,000, then being loaded onto smaller delivery trucks.
Crews from the council’s contractor Jett are assembling bins in stacks of about 15 by attaching the wheels.
Residents who notice stacks of unassembled bins near their homes shouldn’t help themselves, as the team will bring one to them. Each bin will come with the lid taped closed, and with a recyclable cardboard lid hanger reminding people not to use it yet.
Your bin’s here – what happens next?
Once their bin arrives, you should mark it with your house number to ensure it is returned after collection under the new service.
For the next few months, you should keep putting rubbish out in the remaining blue bags, and should aim for no more than one a week.
This should be possible if you recycle all you can – and you’ll need to do this as the new bins, which hold about the same as two full blue bags, will be emptied every two weeks.
Recycling will be collected from the existing green bags every two weeks, on weeks when rubbish isn’t collected, and food waste collections will stay weekly.
Residents will keep their usual collection day, although some will start with a rubbish collection in the week of Monday, August 12, while others will start with recycling.
Each household will be getting a leaflet with a weekly collection calendar, and other helpful information about the changes.
Working hard to get to everyone
The first bin deliveries have gone well, and crews even got a well-earned round of applause from people watching them in Twyford last week.
Aside from numbering their bin when it arrives, the most important thing that everyone can do between now and August is ensure they’re recycling all they can.
The council is asking everyone whether they could be recycling more, as 70% of all household waste in the borough can be recycled but only 55% is actually recycled.
Some residents already recycle all they can, which is hugely appreciated, but in some areas only 38 % of waste is recycled – with a further 32% wrongly discarded as rubbish.
There’s no limit on how many recycling bags are put out, and recycling advice is available on the council’s website or through its fortnightly Rubbish & Recycling newsletter.
People can pick up additional free recycling bags or a free food bin from collection hubs across the borough. Search “waste container hubs” at wokingham.gov.uk for more.
Most things don’t belong in rubbish
If residents recycle all they can, the bins should only contain bagged pet litter and animal waste, general dust and dirt, black plastic food container trays, polystyrene, disposable nappies and sanitary waste.
Plastic film and bags or bubble wrap may be thrown away but can also be recycled at some supermarkets. Everything else goes in green recycling bags, food waste bins or the optional brown garden waste bins, or is recycled at collection points like bottle banks.
Free green recycling bags and food bins are available at collection hubs across the borough – and keep an eye out for the council’s engagement team, who are visiting homes to offer advice.
Residents are asked to be patient as the bin delivery crews work their way across the borough throughout June and July. However, if your neighbours have all received bins and you think you’ve been missed, you can report it to the council.
