Almost half of households have received new containers ahead of upcoming waste and recycling changes
Tens of thousands of households across Swindon have already received their new food waste caddies and weighted bag ahead of the roll out of weekly food waste collections.
Published: Monday, 9th October 2023
So far, 55,000 homes have received the new containers they need before the changes are implemented.
Residents are urged not to use the new containers just yet, but to keep hold of them. Households who are on the food waste collections trial should continue to use the existing caddies they already have.
From later this year, waste and recycling collections will be made as follows:
- General waste in wheelie bin or blue bags
- Paper and card recycling in one of the existing black/orange recycling boxes
- Glass recycling in one of the existing black/orange recycling boxes
- Plastic and metal recycling in new weighted bag
- Food waste in large outdoor food waste bin
Food waste will be collected weekly, while general waste and other recycling will be collected fortnightly.
Properties with a communal bin store, such as some flats, will not be affected by the changes at this time.
The Council’s garden waste collection service will continue in the same way.
Councillor Chris Watts, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for the Environment and Transport, said: “Delivering new containers to approximately 85,000 households in Swindon is a mammoth task and our teams are still busy delivering them, so don’t worry if you haven’t received yours just yet.
“Thank you to all residents who continue to keep hold of their new recycling containers ahead of the changes. We’ll write individually to each affected household with further details of what you need to do and when before anything changes.
“A helpful leaflet is included with the containers, so please do have a read of this to understand more about the new services. If you’ve misplaced this leaflet, then you can also find further information and a list of commonly asked questions on our website, swindon.gov.uk/recyclefaqs which is kept regularly updated.
“These changes will help to increase Swindon’s recycling rate as currently, approximately 40 per cent of the general waste we collect is food waste. By recycling food waste we can turn it into fertiliser or biogas to heat homes, so I would encourage people to make use of the new service when it is rolled out across Swindon.”