A final roll of 20 blue general rubbish bags will be delivered to most households in Wokingham Borough over the six weeks between Monday, February 12, and Friday, March 22.
These are to cover the period from April until mid-August, when the council will be switching most properties to fortnightly rubbish collections from a 180-litre black wheeled-bin.
Households which are moving to the new service will get their bin from late May onwards, but should not use it straight away and should continue aiming to put out one blue bag a week until mid-August.
Residents can look up their blue bag delivery date on the council’s website (www.wokingham.gov.uk) by searching for ‘find your blue bin bag delivery date’.
From mid-August, recycling will be collected from the existing green bags every other week, on the weeks when the wheeled rubbish bins aren’t emptied.
Residents can collect additional green bags from 11 hubs around the borough, six of which were recently added in more rural areas to make collection easier. Most households should find four are enough as this adds up to 240 litres – the same size as a large wheeled bin.
Food waste collections are staying weekly and there is no change to the subscription fortnightly garden waste collections.
A new, informative leaflet will be delivered with the blue bags to explain the changes in detail and provide helpful tips on how to get ready, and to recycle more.
Some households will not be moving to the new service, and their rubbish and recycling collections will continue to be weekly. They will receive a roll of 54 blue rubbish bags, the same as last year, to last them for one year from April.
The council has carried out a borough-wide survey to work out which households are not suitable for the new collections. They include flats with communal bin stores, properties with no space at all for wheeled bins, and those on narrow lanes which regular waste collection vehicles cannot get to.
Cllr Ian Shenton, executive member for environment, sport and leisure said: “Waste collection changes are coming soon and we urge you to get prepared, if you aren’t already.
“We’re thankful that many residents are doing their best to recycle, but we need everyone to be on board.
“A recent look at samples of blue bags collected in selected streets found that 62 per cent of the contents in those bags could have been recycled, with food waste taking up the biggest share, followed by paper and cardboard, plastic bottles, pots and trays and others.
“If you haven’t got enough green recycling bags, or don’t already have a kitchen caddy or food waste bin to help you recycle more, pop into one of the collection hubs and get them for free.
“We’ve recently added six more hubs, so it’s not difficult to find one near you with a total of 11 locations across the borough now.
“Embracing the changes will help boost our recycling rate, reduce our environmental impact and carbon emissions while making those much-needed savings.
“We need your support to make this roll-out smooth and successful.”
