Category Archives: Rubbish and Recycling

Compostable green bags not required

These specialist and costly green food caddy liners are not required, I discovered.

For all the years since Vale’s food recycling service was introduced, we’ve all been following instructions and using these light green compostable food caddy liners.

As it turns out, we needn’t have. It seems they take too long to break down for the system that’s in use. So workers have spent years ‘de-bagging’ our food recycling at their depot.

Now we’re told we can use any plastic bag, or paper bag, or we can even chuck all the food in the caddy with no liner at all. Yuck.

So now that we know so much more about the impact of single use plastics on our planet, I don’t know what’s the most environmentally friendly choice. Without any expertise whatsoever, I’m inclined to think it’s the original, compostable green bags. After all, we know they DO break down. (Maybe in 3-4 days? From the info printed on the bag. Just not between your kerbside and the recycling centre. None of this is clear.)

Actually reading the info on the bag, for the first time ever, I see there’s a Use By date. Mine have gone over that. I wonder if that mean they’ve started to biodegrade in my kitchen drawer.

Life sometimes seems too complicated.

Extra garden waste collections

Residents in Vale who are signed up for brown bin collections can put out twice as much garden waste during one week this month.

Vale of White Horse district council is giving those who are part of the paid-for service the opportunity to put out the equivalent of one extra bin’s worth of garden waste (around three large bin bags) during the week commencing 16 October 

Residents should leave their extra garden waste out in bin liners or sacks beside their brown bins on their usual collection day during these weeks. Trade waste bags cannot be accepted.

Cllr Charlotte Dickson, cabinet member for waste at Vale of White Horse District Council, said: “With the autumn leaves falling, it’s a good time to give residents this extra service and we hope they find it helpful. It’s a perfect opportunity to get their gardens ready for winter.”

Recycling change causes confusion

Have you had an Oops! notice left hanging on your green recycling bin?

A recent policy change was brought about by high rates of contamination of residential recycling. When someone puts stuff into the green bin that shouldn’t be there, it contaminates a whole lorry load of recycling and costs Vale a lot of money. So now the policy is that if any recycling is in plastic bags, those bags must be clear, so drivers can see that it’s not been contaminated. Notices went out on bin hangers, in press releases, via social media. Yes, black bin liners are still recyclable, but it’s no longer allowed to put recycling IN the black bin liners. Items for recycling must be loose in the bin, or in clear sacks. Otherwise your recycling won’t be collected.

If you have more recycling that can fit in your green bin, then you can leave extra next to the bin, but again, this must be in a clear sack.

If anyone had problems getting their recycling collected, they can check the rules at http://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/services-and-advice/recycling-rubbish-and-waste/changes-your-recycling-services. If the instructions have been followed then residents can contact Biffa directly at admin.vale@biffa.co.uk or on 03000 610 610.

Bad weather waste & recycling collections

Sometimes bad weather affects waste and recycling collections.

If bins aren’t emptied on the scheduled day, leave them out for two more days and Biffa will do their best, weather permitting, to come back.

If the bins haven’t been emptied after 3 days, take them back in and put them out for the next scheduled collection date.

You can always leave extra waste out beside the bin in an open box or a clear sack.

If your bins are missed, you can email admin.vale@biffa.co.uk or ring the Biffa call centre on 03000 610 610.

Pickup during the holidays will work to the published calendar: http://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/services-and-advice/recycling-rubbish-and-waste/your-recycling-and-waste-collections/bank-holiday-co

Waste recycling strategy – Consultation through 5 Oct 15

Oxfordshire County Council needs to save money; we hear that loud and clear.

One strategy they are exploring is to reduce the number of Household Waste Recycling Centres  (HWRCs) from seven to three or four.

See what the Vale has to say about it here: http://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/news/2015/2015-08/residents-urged-air-concerns-over-recycling-centre-proposals

To learn more about what’s proposed, and make your views known, go to the County Council website, here: https://consultations.oxfordshire.gov.uk/consult.ti/HWRCstrategy/consultationHome

Waste (further disruption)

I’ve just had this notice from the Vale:

Dear Councillors,

As you may be aware, flooding in South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse is continuing to have an impact on waste collection services. This is due to a number of road closures across the two districts. The flooding and its associated impact is set to worsen over the next 24 hours.

We have been advising residents in both districts that, if their waste is not collected on their scheduled collection day*, they are to leave the bins on the roadside and crews will attempt to pick them up the following day.

At present, the increased severity of the flooding is having a continued knock-on effect on waste collections and these catch-up services are slowed down. The waste crews are working extremely hard to minimise any delays, however as the situation worsens this is becoming increasingly difficult due to the flooding itself, the associated road closures, and traffic congestion.

The Biffa street cleaning crews are currently working into the evening to assist with the filling and distribution of sandbags. These crews would normally be deployed to help the waste collection crews catch up after delays, but we are sure you’ll understand that protecting people’s homes from flooding has to be our first priority at the moment.

This information will be broadcast on our website and via Twitter, as well as communicated to local radio stations, news desks, and other local authorities.

We are grateful for our residents’ patience and co-operation at this time.

*Please note that our adjusted Christmas calendar is effect at the moment, so scheduled collection days are different to the rest of the year.

Kind regards,

Natalie.

Communications Team
South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils
communications@southandvale.gov.uk
@southoxon / @whitehorsedc
01235 540300.

 

 

 

Waste collection disruption

I’ve just had this notice from the Vale.

Dear Councillors,

As you may be aware, flooding in South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse are having an impact on waste collection services. This is due to a number of road closures across the two districts.

For now, we are advising residents in both districts that, if their waste is not collected on their scheduled collection day*, they are to leave the bins on the roadside and crews will attempt to pick them up the following day. We will let you know if this situation changes.

We are also publishing this information on our website and via Twitter. Residents subscribed to the text and Binfo services will also receive this information directly.

*Please note that our adjusted Christmas calendar is effect at the moment, so scheduled collection days are different to the rest of the year.

Kind regards,

Natalie.

Communications Team
South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils
communications@southandvale.gov.uk
@southoxon / @whitehorsedc
01235 540300.

August 2011 Bank Holiday Waste Collection

Waste collections in the Vale will run a day later than normal next week following the bank holiday on Monday 29 August.

The Vale service will collect recycling and food bins plus brown bins.

Collections on Saturday 3 September will start from 6am, an hour earlier than usual, so if this is your collection day, make sure your bins are out the night before.

Collections will return to normal on Monday 5 September.

Full details of collections can be found at www.morerecycling.co.uk or by calling 03000 610610.

You can sign up to get a free text message to remind you when to put your bins out when the day changes due to bank holiday or bad weather. To register, send a message with the word ‘waste’ and your collection day (eg, ‘Waste Thursday’) to 07797 870371.

Changes to Garden Waste Service

This, from the Vale officers (I’ve snipped out bits to make it shorter, without sacrificing meaning):

…We will suspend collections for two weeks over Christmas, […] to enable us to collect the extra household waste produced at this time of the year. [We will also] collect extra garden waste during a week in spring, which we will publicise nearer the time.

[…] for new customers we will only accept direct debit payments […] We are planning to include a letter with future invoices to advise existing customers that we will be moving to direct debit payments only for our garden waste service before their service is next renewed. We hope this will encourage some customers to switch now but gives all customers up to 12 months notice of this change.

For more information on the terms and conditions, please visit the council’s website at www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk.

For questions related to the garden waste service, please contact Ian Matten on (01235) 547640 or waste.team@whitehorsedc.gov.uk

So, garden waste (brown bin) pick-up will be skipped in December, and we’ll have an extra pick-up in spring, with the details to be announced nearer the time.

But it won’t be announced in Unvaled, because the Vale cabinet are discontinuing it.

When I hear details, I’ll post them here.

What happens to my recycling after it’s picked up?

At the North Hinksey Parish Council meeting in May 2011, Cllr Ag McKeith relayed a question from one of our residents, who sought reassurance that the recycling effort was still working, even with the sound of breaking glass she heard as the men picked up the bins near her home.

I spoke with Clare Kingston, the Office in charge of recycling for the Vale, plus did a bit of my own sleuthing, and learned a few valuable things:

  • Vale recycling rate shot up from 38% under the old scheme to 70% with the new one, making our recycling rate one of the best in the country!
  • More information about what happens to your recycling is planned for the next issue of Unvaled. The current issue is available on the Vale’s new website www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk. Search for Unvaled.
  • The service provider, Verdant, will soon be offering arranged site visits, so we’ll be able to see for ourselves how the recycling centre processes our stuff.

Blue Peter, ever the champion of explaining how things work, joined a recycling collection in the midlands, which works much like ours. Watch and see the recycling at Greenstar’s super MRF (Materials Reclamation Facility) at Aldridge, near Birmingham, which is where the Vale’s residential collectibles for recycling end up:   http://www.biffa.co.uk/about-biffa/media-centre/videos.html

On the video, you’ll see that a load of mixed recycling (plastic, glass, paper, cardboard, metal all together) is dumped into a giant feeder bin that’s processed by high tech machines and computers, helped by people who make sure things go where they should. For example, as the mixed material passes through on a conveyor belt, people first pick out the light-weight plastic (shopping bags, loo roll or bread wrappers, cling film, etc) and toss them up a giant hoover to be gathered and re-used. Giant cogs shake up the materials to extract the cardboard. The glass breaker machine yields small pieces of glass and sends it to manufacturers of glass products. A magnet-based machine separates steel from aluminium.

Once I saw this video, I understood why crisps and sweets wrappers can’t be recycled: they’re bonded metal and plastic that can’t be separated. It’s the same for the blister packs that tablets come in. And it’s thoughtful to make sure your recycling is clean.

Sometimes we might find aspects of the rubbish and recycling collection annoying. But if we keep in mind how each household’s efforts contribute to the overall success, then it’s a good trade-off. Every time we fill a green bin and set it out for collection, we save taxpayer money, natural resources, and precious landfill space.

What you can recycle: http://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/services-and-advice/recycling-rubbish-and-waste/household-collections/recycling/what-can-i-recycle