New bins are on their way

Refuse collection
The quest to improve recycling in Aylesbury Vale is set to begin with the start of the roll out of new recycling bins.

Aylesbury Vale District Council will be delivering the new bins over a six to eight week period starting on 10 July. All households will receive them, except those who live in flats or those whose home is not suitable for bins.

The new bins will be accompanied by an information pack explaining a new, improved kerbside collection service that goes live from Tuesday 4 September.

Residents will receive letters this week, advising them that their new bins are about to be delivered.

Each household will receive a large 240-litre recycling wheeled bin (with a blue hinged lid) for all paper, glass, cardboard, plastics, cans and tins, which will be mixed together. This means residents will only have to store a single bin for all these materials and won’t have to separate them.

By providing a bigger bin and collecting cardboard for the first time, this will increase the volume of recycling collected. AVDC is aiming to increase recycling amounts from around 21 per cent in 2012 to over 50 per cent in 2014. Recycling collections will continue to be made every fortnight.

Food waste will be collected separately, every week. Each household will receive a small bin, with a handle to lock the lid, which will stop any smells escaping, and prevent insects and vermin getting in. The contents will be collected weekly and go to an anaerobic digestion plant, where methane gas will generate electricity.

Households will also be supplied with a kitchen caddy, to collect food scraps in. Local residents have helped the council choose what type of bins will work best for them.

As part of the changes, the rounds will be reorganised over four days (Tuesday to Friday), rather than five. The main advantage for customers is that whenever there are bank holidays on a Monday, there will be no disruption to the collection service. This means that the only collection dates that will change will be at Christmas and New Year, and after Good Friday.

The residual household waste (non-recyclable materials) will be collected in the existing green refuse bins. These collections will be made on alternate weeks, fitting in between the recycling collections. Households of five or more people may request a larger green refuse bin.

Since April, a new paid-for garden waste collection service has been available in some parts of the Vale. From September 2012, the service will be available for the remainder.

Households will receive a large 240-litre brown bin, emptied every fortnight between February and November. The cost is £36 a year, paid annually by direct debit.

This new scheme will replace the free brown bin service currently operating in Winslow and Buckingham when the four-day week collections start in September. The last free brown bin collection will be on 29 August.

People who live in properties that are not suitable for bins and who currently use black sacks will receive new sacks: purple for general waste and transparent blue for the new mix of recycling materials. They will also receive the new food waste bin and kitchen caddies, which will be delivered between 2 and 13 July.

Councillor Sir Beville Stanier, Cabinet Member for Environment and Health, said: “The delivery of the new bins marks the first visible change to our recycling and waste collection scheme. We ask that residents continue to use their existing bins, baskets or bags until the end of August. We can’t empty the new bins until we start the new collection service in September. Everyone needs to keep hold of their new collection calendars as these hold the collection dates for the next year.”

For more information about the new collection service or how to reduce your waste, visit www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/newbins or call 01296 585510.