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Waste news
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 You can now recycle your empty toothpaste tubes from the comfort of your home.
By simply placing them in your bright blue recycling bag, you can help reduce plastic waste from being thrown in the bin.
To help with the recycling process, please make sure to squeeze as much out of them as possible, that way we’re just left with the plastic.
Check that your toothpaste tubes are made from recyclable materials. Most toothpaste tubes are, but it’s always good to double-check – look for the 'Recycle' symbol.
 What you can do if you have extra recycling following the festivities:
- Visiting a recycling site is the best way to get rid of large quantities of any materials, especially when public holidays or severe weather disrupt the usual recycling and rubbish collections.
- Make the most of your recycling containers. Crushing, squashing and flattening waste means you can fit more in your box – and crews more into the trucks. When you squash your waste it also makes it easier to sort.
- If you have the space, save extra recycling and put it out the following week.
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Donate your smart tech to Fixy
Did you get a new tablet, smart phone, smart watch or games console for Christmas? Why not donate your pre-loved devices to Fixy? Fixy will be back on the road in 2025 and collecting donations of smart tech for reuse.
Date and time
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Location
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Event
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Wednesday 15 January, 10am to 1pm
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Crewkerne Market, outside Town Hall, Market Square, Crewkerne, TA18 7LN
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Fixy collecting smart tech for reuse
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Saturday 18 January, 10am to 1pm
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The Balsam Centre, Balsam Park, Wincanton, BA9 9HB
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Fixy collecting smart tech for reuse
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Sunday 2 February, 10am to 1pm
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Town Hall, Christchurch Street West, Frome, BA11 1EB
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Fixy collecting smart tech for reuse
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Saturday 22 February, 10am to midday
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Street Quaker Meeting House, 36 High Street, Street, BA16 0EB
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Fixy will joining Street Repair Cafe to celebrate their one year anniversary, bring along any unwanted smart tech to donate.
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Items accepted for donation include; laptops, tablets, mobile phones/smart phones, smartwatches, digital camera, game consoles and accessories*, hard drives and external disk drives, routers. Please include power supply cable, AC adaptor and/or charger wherever possible. Items must be unlocked and unlinked if using an iCloud account to enable reuse.
*Check online for the full list of what can be accepted.
Impact infographic courtesy of CAG Somerset
Community Action Groups (CAG) Somerset is celebrating its first year full of sustainable successes.
CAG Somerset is backed by Somerset Council and its collections contractor, SUEZ. They support and empower community groups to act towards a more sustainable future, focused on reuse, repair, waste reduction, sharing, surplus food and composting.
The network includes inspiring Somerset-based community action groups working to improve sustainability and resilience locally. CAG Somerset members include, community fridges, repair groups, transition towns, cooking, and sewing groups.
Together, the 28 members of CAG Somerset have:
- Volunteered 10,750 hours – worth around £170,000
- Saved 60,000 kgs of food going to waste
- Diverted 46 tonnes of waste from our bins
- Avoided 185 tonnes of carbon emissions
- 1,300 items taken to a repair group
If you’d like to find out more about CAG, have an idea for a community group or like to volunteer, head to the CAG Somerset website.
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This April, the Government will introduce Simpler Recycling, which aims to help boost recycling rates and reduce confusion about what’s accepted for recycling – whether at home or at work.
The Simpler Recycling regulations are designed to create a consistent recycling system across England. This means that businesses, schools, hospitals, places of worship and other organisations will need to follow the same rules for recycling as households.
If you run a business, here’s what you need to know to be ready for the change
Every business is responsible for their waste, and from 1 April 2025 will need to make sure they are separating materials for recycling. Organisations will need to separate and collect the following materials:
- General rubbish, (non-recyclable waste)
- Food waste
- Paper and card
- All other recyclables: cartons, glass bottles and jars, food tins and drinks cans, foil and aerosols, plastic bottles and pots tubs and trays
Businesses with fewer than 10 FTE employees have until the end of March 2027 to comply with the new regulations.
Find more information online via our website or through the Business of Recycling website.
Crossed out wheelie bin symbol
If you’ve had plenty of battery-powered toys whizzing around the house over Christmas, remember to recycle the batteries when they’ve lost their power .
Valuable materials such as nickel, zinc, cadmium and lithium are hidden in our household batteries, if we throw them in the bin, we’ve lost them forever. Recycling batteries means we can use the materials again.
Batteries can also be dangerous to our crews, they can easily catch fire if crushed or if they overheat. The chemicals are also harmful to the environment, they should never be thrown in the bin.
Batteries are hidden in so many of our everyday items – from mobile phones and vapes to electric toothbrushes and children's toys. All of which can pose a danger if not handled carefully, especially when it comes to throwing them away.
 If you’ve misplaced your service guide, you can check and download your collections calendar at any time!
Head to our website, and you can either download a copy of the full service guide, add the collection dates to your smart phone calendar, or download a collection calendar ready to print.
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