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Sorted!
Waste news
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Recycling Sites will move to their summer opening hours from Wednesday 1 April.
All sites will remain open from 9am to 4pm on weekends. Midweek, sites will be open from 9am to 6pm. Opening days vary from site to site, check online before you visit.
The long Easter weekend on 3 to 6 April means your recycling and rubbish collections will be a day later. There won’t be collections on Friday 3 April or Monday 6 April.
If you usually have a Friday collection, it will move to Saturday, 4 April.
Collections resume on Tuesday 7 April, and will be a day later all week.
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Did you know that most food waste happens at home, not in shops or restaurants?
From 9 to 15 March, Food Waste Action Week returns, and it’s a great chance for us all to save money and cut waste by making the most of the food we buy.
Food Waste Action Week is a national campaign led by Love Food Hate Waste, focusing on simple, practical steps we can all take.
This year’s message is about using what we buy, from planning meals and storing food properly to making the most of leftovers.
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Food waste recycling is on the rise in Somerset. Our residents have always been great at recycling and we’ve recently seen more food recycled – which is great for our planet.
We recycled a massive 2,130 tonnes of food waste in December and a further 2,079 in January... that’s 100 tonnes more than December 2024!
To put it into perspective, that extra food waste is equal to 100,000 full kitchen caddies. All those peelings, scraps and leftovers stayed right here in Somerset, where they were transformed into nutrient‑rich fertiliser and clean green energy.
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We know that most Somerset residents are already great recyclers. If you are using your food waste caddy every week, thank you – it really does make a difference.
Now we’re asking you to take one small extra step: pledge your support for food waste recycling and help inspire others across Somerset to do the same.
Why your pledge matters
Food waste recycling is one of the simplest ways to reduce climate‑changing emissions. When food waste is recycled in Somerset, it is turned into renewable energy and biofertilizer. Recycling food waste is also far cheaper for the council to process when compared to thrown in the rubbish bin.
Even if you have been recycling food waste for years, your voice still counts.
Share your top tip
As part of the pledge, we would love to hear your top tips for recycling food waste at home. It could be something simple, like:
- lining your kitchen caddy with newspaper
- emptying it little and often
- keeping it somewhere cool
- using up leftovers before they become waste
Every home is different. Tell us how you make recycling part of your routine. Your top tips could help someone else get started or make recycling easier.
Make your pledge today
It only takes a moment to pledge your support and share your tip, plus you’ll be entered into our prize draw to win a year’s supply of caddy liners.
Vapes are hazardous because they have a hidden battery inside. We ask you to keep them separate from the rest of your recycling.
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Separate your vapes: place used vapes in a small, clear, tied bag (like a sandwich bag).
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Keep them apart: don’t mix vapes with other recyclables, batteries, or small electricals.
- Leave the bag on top of your recycling for easy identification.
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Return to store: alternatively, return vapes to the shop where you bought them.
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Never put vapes in the general waste bin as they could start a fire if crushed.
If vapes aren't handled correctly, they can be a danger to collection crews and the teams working at recycling facilities because of the materials hidden inside of them.
Vapes tend to have hidden batteries making them a fire risk if crushed or compacted, which is both dangerous for our crews, the public and facilities. This has a potential of high cost and a big impact to our services.
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Image courtesy of Sergey Klopotov via Getty
When it comes to waste, reusing is even better than recycling or buying new. Across Somerset, passing on unwanted furniture, small appliances or white goods can help local people to save money. As well as helping people, its also cutting waste at the same time.
Every year, good‑quality sofas, tables, wardrobes, beds, fridges, freezers and other home appliances are thrown away simply because they are no longer needed. By choosing to pass these items on, we can all help to keep them out of disposal sites and give them a second life in someone else’s home.
Community Action Groups (CAG) Somerset provide free support to community groups that focus on reuse, repair, waste reduction, sharing, surplus food, composting, tackling climate change or encouraging sustainable behaviours in their communities.
The local team have recently shared a video to introduce themselves and the community action work that they support. Watch it here via their Facebook page.
CAG Somerset recently reached the milestone mark of having 60 members as part of their network. Proving that community action in Somerset is thriving!
The team welcome groups of any size, working on sustainability. They offer support for their community action journey, from concept to thriving group and everything in between!
If you’re looking for a local group such as a reuse and repair group, litter picking group, community gardening or a local pantry – then head to the CAG website.
The CAG Somerset project is backed by Somerset Council and their household collections contractor, SUEZ.
Fixy will be joining the Cheddar Valley Repair Café at their 1st anniversary celebration. The event will be held on Saturday 14 March, from 10am to midday.
The Fixy team will be hosting a tech amnesty, where they can accept donations of unwanted smart tech for distribution back in the community for those who do not have access to tech like smart phones or laptops.
If you’d like to drop off any items, they accept things like laptops*, tablets*, PCs, desktops, towers*, mobile and smart phones, game consoles and accessories*, smart wear and smart devices.
*Including, where relevant, the power supply cable, AC adaptor, mains power and ancillary accessories to allow re-use. Items must be unlocked and unlinked if using an iCloud account to enable reuse.
A full list of what’s accepted can be found via our Fixy webpage.
If you can’t join the team on the day, but would still like to donate your items, check out the Fixy Project website for a directory of drop off points, as well as repair and reuse groups.
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Somerset families can now make World Book Day both fun and sustainable, thanks to an exciting new costume swap initiative in local libraries.
Instead of buying new, simply donate your pre-loved children’s book character outfits and pick up a fresh look for this year’s celebration. It’s a brilliant way to cut down waste, save money, and support your local community, all while helping the planet.
Following the success of the Winter Coat Exchange, Somerset Libraries are putting the spotlight on reuse and sharing. By swapping costumes, we’re keeping textiles from going to waste, reducing demand for fast fashion, and showing that small actions can have a big environmental impact.
Participating libraries include:
Chard, Glastonbury, Ilminster, Langport, Minehead, Porlock, Shepton Mallet, Street, Watchet, Williton, Yeovil, Taunton, Burnham-on-Sea Library
The scheme is easy to take part in:
Donate a clean, good-quality costume at a participating library. Browse the costume rail and choose an outfit for World Book Day. No donation is required to take part.
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