 All bins rolled out as collection changes dawn
We've delivered more than 67,000 black wheeled rubbish bins to homes, with less than two weeks to go until our waste collections change.
The new service starts on Monday, 12 August, so we've posted collection calendars and launched an online tool for people to check what to put out each week.
You'll be keeping your usual collection day, but rubbish will be collected from your new wheeled bin every two weeks instead of the weekly blue bag collections.
Recycling will also be collected fortnightly from the existing green bags, on weeks when rubbish isn't collected, while food waste collections are staying weekly.
Please make sure you know your collection schedule, and how to put your waste out correctly, to avoid a missed collection.
The crews are still out this week to complete a small number of missed deliveries. If you've already reported a missed delivery, don't worry about contacting us again - but if you haven't, please get in touch.
 A simple guide to the new collections
About half of you will have your rubbish and food waste collected first, with recycling and food waste collected the week after. The other half will start with a recycling collection week, followed by rubbish.
Your calendar leaflet lists all collections until the end of July 2025 and should be kept somewhere visible to keep track of what to put out.
It also explains how to put waste out correctly, which is easy to follow:
- Once the service changes, we'll only collect one full rubbish bin per fortnight, with the lid fully closed and no additional waste beside it
- We won't empty overfilled bins, but this should be easy to avoid by recycling all you can – especially food waste, which is our biggest area for improvement
- Please leave your waste at your boundary, where it meets the public pavement or road. It should be easily reachable, not blocked by walls or fences
- Remember to put your waste out the night before, as collections may happen earlier in the morning than they currently do
 Getting ready for a greener future
You can’t use your new rubbish bin before 12 August, so keep using your blue bags until then. Once the service changes, any leftover blue bags can be used as indoor bin liners and put in the black bin when they’re full.
Please make sure you have a free food waste bin and enough green recycling bags. By recycling all you can, you should have no problem with space in your black bin.
Up to four green bags should be enough if you wash and squash things like plastic bottles, drinks cans and cardboard packaging to take up less space.
The only things that go in the rubbish are:
- bagged pet and animal waste
- general dust and dirt
- black plastic food waste trays
- polystyrene
- disposable nappies
- sanitary waste
Plastic film, bags and wrapping can go in the rubbish, but some supermarkets will recycle it. For help recycling anything else, see Recycle Now's website.
You could consider signing up for our garden waste collections if this would help.
Number your bin - and get more creative if you fancy!
We'd strongly encourage you to number your bin, as this will make it much easier for you to identify on collection days.
You can write in the white square or buy numbered stickers, or you can go a bit further and personalise your bin however you like.
 Working at Jett speed - a job well done!
Finally, we'd like to thank our partners at IPL, who supplied the bins to our depot, and the crews from Jett Distribution, who delivered them to homes.
We were receiving up to 1,000 bins a day and Jett's teams were out delivering in all weathers, from pouring rain to heatwaves.
They had to attach the wheels to each bin on site, and were working so quickly that we saw them get at least one round of applause from onlookers!
Your new bins will last up to 20 years and can be recycled into new bins at the end of their life, so they’re sustainable and good value for money.
Ever wonder what happens to your waste after it's collected, whether that's rubbish or recycling? Why not take an in-depth look at all aspects of the process, including some videos, on the re3 partnership's website?
 For those about to rock... do it responsibly!
We're well into the music festival season, and you may have some summer fun lined up yourself - but please don't forget to celebrate sustainably.
The worst thing you can do is abandon your tent - which, as waste reduction charity WRAP has warned, uses as much plastic as 9,000 straws or 22 LP records.
If you don't plan to use a tent regularly, look at borrowing one from friends - or see whether your festival offers the option to hire them.
You could also bring your own cutlery and crockery to avoid using single-use items, and buy a new festival outfit second-hand if you want one.
As we highlighted last time, the clothing industry - particularly cheap "fast fashion" - is a major cause of wasted resources and water pollution.
Wherever you can, it's always better to mend clothes and buy used - or just ask yourself whether you really need another outfit!
 We're full of beans at coffee pod recycling success
More than 1.35 million aluminium and plastic coffee pods have been recycled in the past year thanks to a scheme which we're supporting.
As part of the national Podback initiative, run by coffee makers Nestle and Jacobs Douwe Egberts, you can drop off your pods at the re3 partnership's household waste recycling centres in Bracknell and Reading.
This has prevented more than 21 tonnes of recyclable materials from going into rubbish locally, saving money on disposal costs and cutting carbon emissions.
The re3 partnership, which we're part of alongside Reading and Bracknell Forest councils, has been supporting Podback since July last year.
You can collect your pods in any container, as long as you keep metal and plastic separate, and tip them loose into special Podback containers at the centres.
The pods go to specialist centres in the UK to be transformed into new products, including packaging, car components and building products.
If you're clearing out this summer, there's loads you can recycle at the re3 household waste recycling centres - be sure to book your slot in advance!
|
