Waste and recycling collections to move by two working days again

The permanent change prevents the backlog of around 40,000 missed collections that used to occur when Christmas Day and Boxing Day fell on normal collection days. Changing the days on which residents’ waste and recycling is collected also helps to manage the extra waste generated over the festive period and keep services running smoothly.

After the usual pause in services on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, collections will restart on Monday, 29 December, beginning with households whose usual collection day would have been Christmas Day. Those whose regular collection day falls on Boxing Day (Friday, 26 December) will have their waste collected on Tuesday, 30 December.

This means that from Thursday, 25 December, all households should put out their waste and recycling two working days later than their current collection day. For residents whose waste and recycling are collected on different days, both services will move by two working days.

Every household across the Borough will receive a bin hanger with details of the changes. Those who use blue bags, or those who receive assisted collections, will be sent a postcard reminder.

Councillor Chris Watts, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for the Environment and Transport, said, “Last year’s change to waste and recycling collection days worked extremely well and helped us maintain a reliable service during one of the busiest times of the year.

“By keeping the two-working-day adjustment in place, our crews can continue to avoid the Christmas backlog that used to affect around 40,000 households with a considerable additional cost to residents. We’ll again be delivering information to every home in December and residents can check their updated collection days using our online look-up tool.

“Christmas is one of the busiest times of the year for our waste crews and it’s also when we see the most recyclable material wrongly thrown into black bins. Every year, £2m worth of residents’ money is spent disposing of recyclable material that is incorrectly put in the black bin – money that could be spent on essential services.

“Please check your updated collection dates online and recycle everything you can – it makes a real difference for Swindon.”

Residents can search ‘look up’ on the Council’s website or visit www.swindon.gov.uk/lookup to check their new waste and recycling collection days. The tool has been updated to reflect the changes and includes answers to frequently asked questions.

In addition, garden waste subscribers can have their real Christmas trees collected. Residents without a garden waste subscription, can take their tree to the Household Waste Recycling Centre (the tip). Residents can take also use the Prospect Hospice collections service, from 9 to 11 January.