RECYCLING

PRESS RELEASE - 16th APRIL 2021

Update from Somerset Waste Partnership

Summary

• The majority of Garden Waste Service subscribers will have a change of collection day next month due to a rerouting of rounds to make them more efficient. The changes take effect from 10 May and those affected will be written to.
• Recycle More is scheduled to launch South Somerset at the end of June and engagement with the public will start in earnest from next week.
• Recycling sites continue to be busy. Current on-site safety measures will continue at least until the next stage in the lifting of Covid restrictions.

Garden Waste – collect day changes

Due to a rerouting of collection routes, the majority of subscribers to SWP’s garden waste service will see a change of collection day next month.

This follows a review of all the collection routes to make them more efficient, reducing mileage wherever possible and thereby limiting impaction the environment. It also aims to improve the service quality and reduce levels of garden waste missed collections.

There are around 54,000 subscribers to the service, and in the region of 45,000 will see a change in their collection day from 10 May.

All those having a change, whether renewing a subscription from last year or starting with the service for the first time, will be written to.

Due to the Covid disruption of the garden waste collections last year, existing subscriptions were extended. Renewed and new subscriptions will run for 12 months from 10 May this year.

The service is going stickerless for the first time thanks to new technology. Stickers will no longer be issued for bin lids, with the crews instead using in-cab tech and real-time information to know who has subscribed and needs a collection.

Recycle More update

The expanded recycling collections continue to perform well in Mendip and attention is now focussed on the introduction of the new service in South Somerset. This is scheduled to happen at the end of June.

As well as reducing waste and helping protect the environment, the new service will cost all partners less. You can find details of the new service and how it is being introduced in phases here www.someretwaste.gov.uk/recycle-more

Key points include:

• Extra items added to weekly recycling collections – notably plastic pots, tubs and trays (as well as cartons, small electrical items and small household batteries)
• All residents issued with a new recycling container – a Bright Blue Bag – to help hold some of the extra material
• Rubbish bins collected every three weeks instead of two – more recycling means less rubbish

Engagement with elected members and wider stakeholders in South Somerset is underway. Public awareness raising and engagement will start in earnest in the coming weeks. This will see increased interest in the change and we will be encouraging South Somerset residents to get ready for the new service, for example by making sure they have the full range of recycling containers.

All residents will be written to twice before anything changes and extra advice and support will be provided to help the change go smoothly. Recycle More is scheduled to be rolled-out in the Taunton Deane area in the autumn and Sedgemoor and West Somerset early next year. Further updates will be provided as progress continues.

Recycle sites

All 16 sites continue to operate with additional safety measures and remain busy. These measures will continue at least until the next stage of the easing of lockdown restrictions in mid-May, as will our ‘essential journeys only’ message.

The Reuse Shop has reopened at the Priorswood site, with facemasks required and limits on the number of people in the shop at any time.

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27 January 2021

SWP update: Early collections from next week

COVID continues to put pressure on recycling and rubbish collections. We and our contractors are doing everything we can to keep disruption to a minimum while keeping staff and public safe.

We continue to take a precautionary approach to limit contact and minimise risk: for example, crews work in tightly-controlled team bubbles and the whole bubble isolates when a member is symptomatic, has a positive test or is in contact with someone who tests positive.

This inevitably means far higher staff absences than expected, as well as unpredictable daily changes as team bubbles isolate or return to work, and crews are reallocated to maintain all services. 

In the first three weeks of January, COVID contributed to the loss of nearly 800 operational days – compared to 58 in December.

We are also taking a very precautionary approach to bringing in extra agency staff to cover shortfalls. That adds to the strain on crews, many of whom have been working long hours for a long time. 

With current pressures set to continue, we are taking additional steps to protect crews, help them manage the workload and maintain services.

Extra steps being from Monday, 1 February

6am starts for collections, rather than 7am

This early start will further reduce contact between team bubbles as crews have staggered starts over a longer time. It will also allow them a head start on work that may take longer if staff are absent

Residents have understood and supported early starts in the past, such as the 2019 heatwave and to avoid specific traffic hold-ups.

Householders will need to put recycling and rubbish out by 6am – or the night before. We will start communicating this from today, Wednesday 27 January.

Initially this will be for a month and will reviewed to see if it needs to continue.

We will not immediately return for some missed collections

We will not take such decisions lightly, but staff absences will sometimes make it impractical to return for missed recycling or garden waste collections the following day. In these cases residents need to take containers in until their next collection.

Rubbish collections will not be affected and any missed recycling collections would be prioritised the following week, with extra recycling taken. We will communicate as widely and as soon as possible with affected areas when decisions are made not to return, through social media and updating key stakeholders.

We ask for your patience would encourage you to follow the SWP Facebook page @somersetwaste for the most up to date information.

We have updated our online system for missed collection reporting so residents will know when we will be returning.

A wide range of safety measures and options are already in place for collection crews and depot staff.

These include working in bubbles, minimising contact with colleagues and customers, use of PPE, and careful hygiene. 

SUEZ has a rigorous approach to tracing any contacts and isolating bubbles of staff should there be any suspicion of COVID.

We support staff who choose to wear masks, providing them with reuseable masks and guidance for safe use. All staff have full work PPE, including gloves. Note: Government guidance does not recommend face masks for the operational waste sector. It inevitably leads to frequent touching of the face which carries its own risks when constantly handling waste.  

As well as working in closely monitored small team bubbles, collection crews - where possible - meet their driver at an agreed point each day rather than at a depot. There is a rigorous and effective approach to tracing contacts and isolating bubbles when necessary. Note: guidance acknowledges that social distancing may not be possible inside vehicles and we encourage crews to keep their windows open to allow a fresh airflow.

All staff are encouraged and helped to maintain high hygiene standards, with hand sanitisers freely available at all locations and to crews on the move, as well as washing facilities, including those on the new recycling vehicles. At depots, safety steps already include screens, one-way systems, and spaced starts, which will be extended from 1 February. Additionally, crews clean down their vehicles cab and touch points at least three times a day and this is regularly monitored by our supervisory team.

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Bins are emptied on Thursday mornings, unless there has been a Bank Holiday in which case collections are a day later (usually Friday, but check the Somerset Waste website)

Please see www.somersetwaste.gov.uk and below for details on what can and cannot be recycled.          

Use brown food waste bins for all cooked and raw food, including:

Fruit and vegetables

Meat and Fish

Cheese and egg shells

Bread, pasta, cereal

Tea bags and coffee grounds

Use green recycling boxes for:

Paper including newspapers, magazines, leaflets, printed paper, white envelopes and telephone directories

Glass bottles and jars

Aluminium foil (clean, not paper or plastic backed)

Clothes (bagged to keep dry)

Shoes (tied in pairs and bagged)

Car batteries 

Use black recycling boxes for:

Food and drinks cans

Plastic bottles only (no tops)

Cardboard (flattened) - clean packaging card, corrugated card and greetings cards

Brown envelopes

Please do not put out:

Drink cartons or Tetra Pak

Broken glass, Pyrex, window glass, tableware, light bulbs

Plastic pots, tubs or film

Plastic bottles used for engine oil and garden or DIY chemicals

Household batteries

Business waste for recycling