WEEKLY RECYCLING BEGINS

WEEKLY RECYCLING BEGINS

Remember that from Monday (11th) weekly recycling begins again. The Sort it centres will not be taking recyclables, so any recycling you have needs to go out kerbside. Whilst we are all at home, are there things we usually put in the bin that we could actually put out for recycling? Check at:https://beta.southglos.gov.uk/how-to-sort-your-waste-and-recycling-for-collection/

Weekly recycling collections to resume in South Gloucestershire on 13 May

Weekly recycling collections to resume in South Gloucestershire on 13 May

Weekly recycling collections will resume across South Gloucestershire from Wednesday 13 May after being temporarily changed to keep essential collections running during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Roll out of smaller black bins starts

Back in July 2016, we reported that the Conservative council would be cutting the black bin sizes from 240 litres to 140 litres. The roll out of the new smaller bins starts next Monday and will take around three months to complete.

 This is what will happen on the day yours changes:

• Your black bin will be emptied into the usual lorry.
• A crew following behind will remove the wheels and stack the old bins at the roadside in groups of ten. The stacks will be placed on their sides without blocking pavements, driveways or footpaths. 
• Later the same day, another vehicle will remove the old bins - most parts of the bin will be recycled. 
• Another crew will follow the round in the other direction, delivering new bins, so depending on where you are in the round you may get your new bin delivered before the old one is taken away.

Throughout this process your collection day will stay the same. You can find out more about recycling on the South Glos website. If you can't find the help you need online, call 01454 868000.

You may also find our recent blog post on nappy and incontinence waste useful.

Black bin size cut, capacity almost halved

On Wednesday, the Conservatives and Labour voted to go ahead with the new waste strategy for South Glos.

Your Focus Team welcomed the weekly recycling collections and the flexibility that residents will be given to choose boxes or bags for keeping their recycling in. When the draft strategy proposed switching everyone to boxes we raised concerns about people who have limited space and local people made the same point in the consultation. We also welcomed the reintroduction of a reusable nappy incentive scheme, which we hope will help more parents switch from disposable nappies.

The strategy also includes replacing the current 240 litre black bins with 140 litre ones, despite other local authorities having opted for 180 litres. North Somerset for example has managed to achieve a better recycling rate with 180 litre black bins. We are worried that 140 litres may be a step too far.

We are also very concerned about the new disposable nappy service, that will mean parents who can't fit used nappies in their new smaller bin will have to leave them in special bags out on the street. We are worried that animals will be able to get in, the smell will get out and if the waste teams find they contain anything other than nappies they will refuse to take them, leaving them for the following fortnight's collection.

We proposed an amendment that instead of creating a new service, with all the costs of providing the bags, would have let families with small children keep their 240 litre bins until their children were 3 years old. This would have been simpler for residents and the waste crews and would have meant used nappies were still in a solid bin. Unfortunately this was voted down. We hope that having heard our concerns council officials will keep a close eye on how this service works in practice.

Don't forget to register your vehicle to use the Sort It recycling centres

South Gloucestershire residents who want to use the Sort It recycling centres now need to register their vehicle to access the sites. You don't need to sign up straight away, just make sure you register at least 24 hours before your next visit. You can sign up at any time of year and you only need to do it once, unless you change your address or vehicle.

There are two types of registration:

Standard vehicle registration for vehicles of any size (up to 3.5 tonnes) that have rear and/or side facing windows including cars of any size, campervans, people carriers etc.

Restricted vehicle registration for:
• vans of any size without rear facing windows including minibuses, campervans and cars
• 4×4s, pick-up trucks or people carriers (MPV) without rear seats and/or windows or with an open back
• flatbed vehicles, box vans, horse boxes with integrated cab and agricultural vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes.

Restricted vehicles are limited to 12 visits a year. Access times for large vehicles (Monday to Friday – 10am to 2pm, Saturday – 8.30am to 12pm) will continue to apply.

To register your vehicle visit www.southglos.gov.uk/sortitreg. You can also sign up over the phone on 01454 868000 or at the One Stop Shops.

For information about what can be accepted at the Sort It centres, where to find them and opening times visit www.southglos.gov.uk/sortit

Changes to South Glos waste and recycling collections over Christmas and New Year

Waste and recycling days in South Glos will change for a couple of weeks over the Christmas and New Year period.

You can check changes to your collections here.

Protecting access to Sort It centres

At South Glos Council's last Communities Committee, anyone who uses a works van as their only vehicle was nearly banned from using South Gloucestershire’s Sort It centres for their personal waste. Fortunately we were able to change the Conservative's proposal.

It originally said that vehicles will need to be registered to use the Sort It centres and “any vehicle registered to a business will be declined”. If this had passed, anyone who owns or works for a small business who has their work van as their only vehicle would have been stopped from using the Sort It centres. They would have had no way to dispose of their personal household waste.

Claire Young successfully proposed an amendment asking officers to come up with a scheme to enable those people to continue to use Sort It centres. They will only be allowed to transport household waste, not business waste, but it's right that they should be able to access these services like other residents. Your Focus Team thinks it's important to stand up for the people who run and work for our local small businesses.

The local dimension - keeping our area green for future generations

Caring for our environment has always been a key Lib Dem principle. Over the past four years we have worked to increase the amount of rubbish South Gloucestershire recycles. We will use green space designation powers to help keep our area green for future generations.

We will: 

1. Use the Council’s planning powers to protect green spaces to the same level as the Green Belt.
2. Work to ensure more affordable housing is available locally (including through support for self-build schemes) while ensuring that neighbouring authorities also take their fair share.
3. Protect the local Green Belt from unsuitable developments.
4. Continue to improve recycling rates and increase the range of items that can be recycled.
5. Reduce the Council’s carbon emissions through energy saving and increased use of renewables.

Our record of action...

We delivered on our 2011 manifesto commitment to collect Tetrapaks for recycling as well as mixed
plastics and small electrical items. We’ve also pushed the council to cut its energy bills and carbon footprint.

This is an extract from the Liberal Democrat Vision for South Gloucestershire, our manifesto for the 2015 Local Elections.

More collections of unwanted green bins

South Glos has already been round collecting in some areas, but in other areas residents didn't hear about it until it had happened.

Details of the green bin removal day will be provided on a tag secured to your black bin around one to two weeks before the collection. This is a one off service and if you no longer want your green bin it must be put out for removal on the date on the leaflet you receive.

The latest local collection dates are as follows:

Chipping Sodbury - Wednesday 4 Feb

Yate - Tue 17 Feb
(This includes the Dodington Parish off Shire Way roads and along Rodford Way)

Apparently the houses on the Birds estate were correctly notified and their bins were collected in December, so if you live on the Birds don't expect a collection unless you've already had a tag to tell you. We've done our best to clarify this with South Glos and this is what they've told us.

You may well ask what is happening to all the bins that are being collected - they're not being scrapped, they are being cleaned out and reissued to new houses and to people who decide to take up the paid-for garden waste collection later on.

All green bins for removal must be outside by 7 am on the appropriate day and must be empty. They will not take any bins that contain waste, including garden waste.

If you currently receive help putting out your bins and require assistance to put your unwanted green bin out, please contact 01454 868000 or e-mail sortitteam@sita.co.uk prior to your removal day.

If you are using the bin for another use you can continue to do so.

Recycling Christmas trees

If you have a real Christmas tree, South Glos Council say there are a number of ways you can recycle it when the festivities are over:

• If you have subscribed to the garden waste service you can put your real Christmas tree in your green bin for kerbside collection on your collection day. Please cut the tree into manageable pieces and make sure the tree is not wedged into the bin.
• You can buy a single use garden waste sack for £2 from your nearest South Gloucestershire library. Please attach the sack to the tree and leave out for collection on your bin collection day (you don’t need to worry about cutting the tree to fit it in the sack).
• You can also recycle your tree at one of South Gloucestershire’s four Sort It centres. 

Please remember to remove all decorations, pots and stands before recycling your Christmas tree. Recycled trees will be processed with the rest of South Gloucestershire’s garden waste and turned into fertiliser and mulch. To check your collection day please visit www.southglos.gov.uk/localconnection

South Glos Council to start collecting unwanted green bins

If you don't use your green bin, South Glos will be collecting them shortly. Obviously they won't collect it if you use it for green waste, and you can keep it if you use it for anything else (for example, some people have found that they're handy for garden tools)

In our area the planned removal dates are:

Frampton Cotterell     Monday 15 December
Yate North     Tuesday 16 December
Yate Central     Wednesday 17 December
Dodington     Thursday 18 December
Westerleigh  and Chipping Sodbury     Friday 19 December

Details of the green bin removal day will be provided on a leaflet that will be delivered to your address one week before the collection. This is a one off service and if you no longer want your green bin it must be put out for removal on the date on the leaflet you receive.

All green bins for removal must be outside by 7 am on the appropriate day and must be empty. They will not take any bins that contain waste, including garden waste.

If you currently receive help putting out your bins and require assistance to put your unwanted green bin out, please contact 01454 868000 or e-mail sortitteam@sita.co.uk prior to your removal day.

Warning - if you subscribe to the green bin collection service, please make sure that your bin is not outside on "removal day" or it will disappear!

Full details are on the South Glos website here.

Consultation on changes to Sort It Centres

South Glos Council is consulting about possible changes to the Sort It Centres (recyling centres) to save money by limiting the amount of commercial waste and material brought in by people who don't live in South Glos. This could affect the way YOU use the Sort It Centres - options include:

• Limiting business use by clarifying the definition of a van, introducing van permits and limiting the number of times a van can visit in a year
• Asking local residents to pre-register for permits before visiting to reduce the number of non-residents using the sites
• Introducing a charge for the collection and disposal of some non-household waste items
• Changes to opening hours and the days sites are open

You can download the consultation document here. The consultation is open until 14 February,

You can find out more and let South Glos know your views by:

• Completing the consultation feedback survey (you can fill it in online or download and print it)
• Email: consultation@southglos.gov.uk          
• Write to: FREEPOST RTCT-JXLE-EET, South Gloucestershire Council, Corporate Research & Consultation Team, Sort It Centre   Changes Consultation, Civic Centre, High Street, Kingswood, BRISTOL, BS15 9TR
• Phone: 01454 868154

If you would like someone to talk to your group or organisation about these proposals, please contact South Glos using the details above to arrange.

Making food recycling easier

You can now use ordinary plastic bags to line your food recycling caddy, thanks to new mechanical sorting techniques that separate the bags from food waste.

This will hopefully make it easier and cleaner to use the kitchen caddies and so encourage more people to do so. At the moment, about a fifth of the waste put in black bins is food that could be recycled. Not only is this bad for the environment, it also costs taxpayers’ money – money that could help protect front line services as our central government funding reduces.

Further information is available at www.southglos.gov.uk/foodrecycling

Checks stepped up at Sort It! recycling centres

Every tonne of waste tipped at Sort It! Centres by people who don't live here or commercial traders costs the council £100 to process. That's something the council can't afford with the increasing pressure on finances. Unauthorised use can also create delays for genuine residents using the site.

To try to stop unauthorised use, SITA are stepping up residency checks at the site. From 1st October, you may be asked for proof of residency - one or more official documents that together prove who you are (photographic ID) and that you live in South Gloucestershire.  Suitable documents include driver's license, utility bill, Council Tax bill and passport.

Money to bin?

Don’t be taken in by the Great Tory Green Bin Con!

Tories want you to believe they would give you free Green Bin collection. the trouble is that to give everyone free green bins, they would have to cut something else - but they've refused to say what. Either they don't know, or they DO know and don't want to tell us because it would be something even worse...

The Tories did try claiming that collecting bins from early morning to late at night would save the money - until independent experts say it would actually COST over £50,000 more per year than it would save. Since then the Tories have been tight lipped about how they’d cover the cost of free green bins.....

So far over 38,000 residents have decided to go with the new scheme. Residents in Bristol and Bath & North East Somerset have been paying for their green waste to be collected for a number of years. No one wanted to introduce a charge here, but cuts had to be made somewhere. The 21 Lib Dem councillors on South Glos are committed to playing our part in making the difficult choices about which services to protect - let's hope the 33 Tory Councillors will start taking responsibility too, instead of playing politics.

New ways to recycle

You can now put out food and drinks cartons (Tetrapaks) and small electrical items in your green box and a wider range of mixed plastics in your plastic bottle bag. As well as bottles, you can include things like yoghurt pots, margarine tubs and meat trays (but not black ones). Recycling services for flats will be improved. Bring banks at the Sort It Centres and those operated by charities will continue as well. This will help the environment and avoid spiraling landfill costs. Check your bin hanger to see which weeks your recycling should go out If you didn't get your bin hanger or have any other problems, visit www.southglos.gov.uk/sortit or call 01454 868000.

Bin collection day changes

Watch out for your new bin calendar 'hanger' between 12th and 23rd May.

SITA are changing the collection rounds from 2nd June to accommodate the new materials you can now recycle and to cope with the major new developments being built around South Glos. It's important to read the hanger carefully because you may have a new collection day and there are changes to which items are put out on which weeks.

From 2nd June the fortnightly schedule will change so that black and green bins will go out together, with the green recycling box being collected in the other week. Plastics and cardboard will be collected on alternate weeks, the hanger will say which, while food waste will continue to be collected weekly.

If you don't get a bin hanger by Monday 26th May, please contact the council on streetcare@southglos.gov.uk or by calling 01454 868000. You can check your collection schedule online at any time via www.southglos.gov.uk/sortit

SORT IT! Centres open again today

South Glos Council say that as we didn’t get any more snow yesterday all four SORT IT!* Centres are OPEN today. 

Latest SORT IT! updates are posted here.

Snow and missed recycling collections

South Glos Council has announced: 

"Due to the snow and icy conditions on Friday 18 January, there were no household collections of waste or recycling in South Gloucestershire. Residents are asked to take their containers back onto their property and present them on their next scheduled collection day. For food waste this is the following week and for other materials the following fortnight. Reasonable amounts of side waste (waste that won't fit in the bin/box) will be collected"

Meanwhile the Sort-It Centres are closed today (Saturday 19 January) and decisions on opening will be taken on a daily basis.

Bins and buses over Christmas

If you're wondering when your recycling and rubbish will be collected over Christmas, you can find out on the South Glos website. On the same page you can also find out the opening times for the Sort IT centres and the best way to dispose of your Christmas tree and cards when the time comes.

South Glos has also provided details of changes to local bus timetables over Christmas.