Service matters

Although collection crew take every precaution they can, and wear protective gloves, for your own peace of mind you may want to consider wearing gloves to relocate your own bin, wiping down the handle and washing hands after moving it.

You may notice that there are usually three crew members in the cab of a refuse lorry, which doesn’t comply with the guidance on social distancing. This is not lost on us and we assure you that we are taking every other possible precaution to ensure their welfare – promoting hand washing, ensuring high levels of personal hygiene, the wearing of personal protective gloves and clothing and being highly vigilant in respect of the monitoring of COVID-19 symptoms.

In order to build resilience and support business continuity, contractors ordinarily engaged on grass cutting and street cleansing are retraining as back-up drivers and loaders. At this time we have taken the view that grass-cutting and street cleansing are not such essential operations and so these are suspended for the time being .

Side Waste

We have been asked whether we will be taking side waste at this time.

We appreciate that with more people being at home for longer, residents may see additional accumulation of extra waste and recycling. But in order to facilitate the service to continue running as smoothly and efficiently as possible, we are unable to take any side waste at this time.

We ask that you try and maximise capacity in your bins at home by crushing down packaging as small as possible and using a home composting bin (if you have one) to dispose of as much vegetable and garden waste as possible.

Recycling

Please remember that only paper, card, cans, glass and light-coloured plastics, bottles and tubs should your green-lidded recycling bin.

We’re pleased to say that residents are responding really well to the clarity we’ve already given on this. 

It's a no for these things:

• bread bags
• film
• sweet bags
• crisp packets
• fruit and salad bags
• carrier or bin bags.

Keep recycling clean, loose and dry.

Please tear off the film lid from food trays. Put this in the black bin. If the food tray is light-coloured, give it a quick rinse if needed and put into the green-lidded bin for recycling.

Household Waste Recycling Centres

As some of us find ourselves with more time to spend at home, it will be tempting to have a good spring clean, sort the attic or tidy the garden, home workshop or garage.

Please note that, as of Tuesday, March 24, all of the Lincolnshire County Council-run household waste recycling centres (HMRCs) – also known as tips – are closed until further notice.

You will therefore need to safely store any items you earmark for disposal at home, being careful not to create any hazards or attract vermin, until they re-open, or when you can arrange for a bulky-waste collection through us. 

Please don’t put things into any of your bins that should be there.

You can check at www.n-kesteven.gov.uk/AZrecycling what you should do with any item.

Please don’t feel tempted to entertain anyone who comes to the door offering to remove any accumulations, as there is a risk they might fly tip it and you will face potential prosecution. You should only ever use someone licenced to handle waste, who can assure you of a safe and legal disposal route and show your their licence documents. At this time though that is not advisable either.

Impacts of coronavirus Given the ever-changing world we are living in where responses to the coronavirus mean that things change on a daily basis, it is understandable that a number of people have been asking how it affects your waste and recycling collections. Put simply, at this current time, there are no immediate impacts on the way in which we collect and empty your bins and how that waste and recycling is handled. We continue to leave the depot and carry out our rounds as we always do, taking ever care to ensure our customers’ and our crews’ safety and welfare. But it is important to say that that could change, at any point, if and when we find we don’t have enough crew on any given day to undertake a full day’s rounds. It is only responsible to make you aware that there may come a day when insufficient numbers of our own staff are able to present for work – either through their own illness or the need to self-isolate under public health guidance – to fulfill all of our collections and duties. Our priority at all times will be to prioritise the collection of black-bin household waste, but it may be that we have to divert colleagues away from other tasks to achieve this. When this happens we will do everything we can to make customers aware of any impact, through our website, social media or email newsletters. To ensure you are able to be updated At www.n-kesteven.gov.uk/stayconnected you can chose to subscribe to further newsletters for news & events and alerts on emergencies / service disruptions. Follow us on Twitter or Facebook. See our service disruption page at www.n-kesteven.gov.uk/current-service-disruptions

One of our residents left this for us this week, and we also received a number of messages of thanks on social media. It means a lot!

A huge thank you goes out to you as well for supporting us during this crazy time. 

When is my bin day?

With so many aspects of life having been turned on their head in recent weeks, it is wholly understandable that some of us have lost track of what day it is.

It is really important for us for your bin to be out on the right day by 07.30am  We will not at this time be able to return for bins.

If you’ve lost sight of what day is bin day, don’t despair – you can easily check at www.n-keseven.gov.uk/findmybinday

Disposal of tissues

Another important point in respect of coronavirus (Covid-19) is to highlight the government guidance on the disposal of tissues and cleaning materials in the black bin.

While Public Heath England advise this for those who are self-isolating, as a precautionary measure it is good advice for us all to follow. Head here for further guidance > HERE

Personal waste (such as used tissues) and disposable cleaning cloths, wipes etc should be disposed of securely within rubbish bags. Carrier bags can be used.  These bags should be placed into another bag, tied securely and kept separate from other waste. This should be put aside and not touched for at least 72 hours before being put in your usual external household waste bin.  

Other household waste can be disposed of as normal.

It is extremely important that tissues are NOT put in recycling bins or waste paper bins.

By taking these actions you will help the Refuse Team to remain safe and continue to provide the normal level of waste collection services for as long as possible.

Garden waste           

Subscriptions to renew or set-up a new garden waste collection can be made at any time, with the new season’s service due to start on March 30.

If you are an existing customer and you haven’t yet made payment of £35 for the collection of a single brown bin by this date – you may see a disruption in the service whilst your order is processed.

If you are a renewing customer and you’ve not yet received your 2020/21 sticker, don’t worry. We know that you’ve subscribed, so put your bin out as usual on the allotted day and our crew will know that you’re due a collection.  When is my bin day?

Collections take place every other week, apart from a two month period over winter when they drop to four-weekly or when circumstances beyond our control affect our capacity to collect.

For details of what can be placed in the garden waste bin and how to pay, please go to https://www.n-kesteven.gov.uk/gardenwaste 

What services are disrupted?

Due to the current situation, and in line with government guidance the district council has taken the decision to reduce some of its waste and street scene services. These include:

• Bulky Waste collections - The district council’s bulky waste collection is now unavailable.  
• Community grass cutting and street cleaning – The team who would ordinarily carry out this work across the district have been relocated to support other essential services during this difficult time.

We will endeavour to keep you up-to-date on service disruptions as much as possible, but please also keep an eye out on our website at www.n-kesteven.gov.uk/coronavirus for further guidance.