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This newsletter provides an update on waste collections in West Berkshire during the Coronavirus situation.
- Your waste and Coronavirus
- Garden Waste
- Fly-Tipping
- Bonfires
- Reducing Waste
We are working hard together with our collections contractor, Veolia, to ensure that our waste services are provided with minimal disruption. If we have to change the level of service we can provide going forward, we will prioritise essential services such as black bin collections.
Councillor Steve Ardagh-Walter, Executive Member for the Environment at West Berkshire Council gives his support:
“It is a testament to the resilience of our teams that our kerbside household waste collection services are continuing to run as normal at this moment. We are well-placed compared with the service levels currently being achieved elsewhere in the country; for example, a recent survey of over 200 English councils found that only 41% of councils were currently operating garden waste collections at normal levels. I want to say thank you to our waste teams for their hard work and also to West Berkshire residents who continue to, wherever they can, reduce their waste or store it safely until our recycling centres are open again.”
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- Bin collection days - If you are unsure which day your bins are collection you can check your bin day online.
- Recycling and rubbish bins should be out by 6am, or the evening before if possible.
- Bulky waste service – this service has been temporarily suspended.
- Newtown Road and Padworth Recycling Centres – these sites are closed until further notice.
For the latest information you can find changes to waste services on our website and on our Recycle for West Berkshire Facebook page.
If there is someone in your household with a possible coronavirus infection, double-bag and tie your waste in plastic bags and store this securely for 72 hours before presenting it with normal waste for collection. As an additional measure, wherever possible, please wipe or sanitise the bin/box/bag handles or lids to minimise the spread of infection and wash your hands thoroughly after putting out or retrieving your bins/bags/boxes.
If you have been out in the garden during recent sunny weather and have garden waste to get rid of, you can sign up to our garden waste collection service. We are working hard to ensure this service is still running as we know other Councils have had to unfortunately suspend their garden waste service.
Find out more about our garden waste collection service.
If you do not wish to subscribe to the garden waste service, you could give home composting a try? Composting at home has many benefits, while also making a ‘free’ fertiliser for your garden. Visit www.getcomposting.com for hints tips and to purchase composters. Alternatively, you can leave grass cuttings in a pile in a suitable part of your garden, whilst the Recycling Centres remain closed.
With the recent sunny weather it might seem like a great opportunity to ‘spring clean’, or have a general clear out. Our Recycling Centres are currently closed due to Coronavirus but if you have waste that you would normally take to one of our sites, please store it safely until the sites are open again.
Don’t fly-tip, it’s a crime. Leaving items outside on the street or in parks, forests and fields is fly-tipping. This is a crime and we have a range of powers to tackle it. Even if you mean well and leave items outside charity shops, or next to full recycling bins, this is still fly-tipping. If you decide to arrange for a private waste collection, you have a duty to make sure you know where your waste is going and that the person collecting your waste is registered as an upper tier waste carrier. Be suspicious of people offering to take your waste away until they prove themselves to be legitimate.
You can check by contacting the Environment Agency
Fly-tipping is a criminal offence which can result in a fine and a prison sentence. Please help us look after West Berkshire and tell us if you have any information about fly-tipping.
You can report fly-tipping to us by email to customerservices@westberks.gov.uk or by calling 01635 519080.
Please do not be tempted to have a bonfire, particularly to burn household or garden waste at home. Many people at home are vulnerable and it may be one of your neighbours who might have respiratory issues or even be fighting the Coronavirus itself. During this difficult time we urge you to please put their needs first.
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We want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has been showing their support for our waste team and the Veolia collection crews with notes, pictures and posts on bins, and on social media.
Keep them coming - put them up in your community to show your support and share them with us on social media using using #WBCommunityLove.
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If there is someone in your household with a possible coronavirus infection, double-bag and tie your waste in plastic bags and store this securely for 72 hours before presenting it with normal waste for collection. As an additional measure, wherever possible, please wipe or sanitise the bin/box/bag handles or lids to minimise the spread of infection and wash your hands thoroughly after putting out or retrieving your bins/bags/boxes.
Did you know about 25% of the waste thrown away in the black bin is food waste?
There are lots of simple ways to reduce this waste going in the black bin. Storing food properly can help it last up to 3 days longer and knowing you can freeze your food right up to the use by date. Love Food Hate Waste have lots of great tips to reduce your food waste and some delicious recipes to use up leftovers.
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