Swindon Borough Council today announced what it describes as the biggest change in local waste and recycling services for 15 years.
Collection vehicles will have distinctive markings
This rollout follows a successful food waste collections trial which approximately 11,000 households in Swindon have been part of since 2019. Since the trial began, households have recycled over 3,100 tonnes of food waste.
Council Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, Cllr Chris Watts, said “These important changes will enable us deliver a comprehensive waste collection service for residents and increase Swindon’s recycling rate.
“Containers are starting to be delivered across the summer – it will take us a fair bit of time to deliver all of the containers as there’s so many of them, so please don’t panic if you don’t receive yours straight away.
"Once you’ve received your new containers, please keep hold of them as you don’t need to use them just yet. We’ll write to each household individually ahead of the changes to explain in detail what you need to do and when.
“We know how important waste and recycling collections are to residents so we’ll be sharing as much information and advice as we can in the run-up to the changes.
"A helpful leaflet will be included with the containers, so please do have a read of this to understand more about the new services. Further information will also be available on our website, which we’ll keep regularly updated.”
The new system, in operation from the autumn, will involve:
- General waste in wheelie bins or blue bags
- Paper and card recycling in one of the existing black/orange recycling boxes
- Glass recycling in one of the existing black/orange recycling boxes
- Plastic and metal recycling in new weighted bags, which will be delivered over the summer
- Food waste in large outdoor food waste bin, which will be delivered over the summer to residents who aren’t currently on the food waste trial
Weekly food waste collections will be rolled out to the majority of households across Swindon, excluding communal properties such as flats which will be included as part of a later phase of the project.
The council’s garden waste collection service will continue in the same way, while general waste and household recycling will continue to be collected fortnightly, and food waste collections will be made every week.
Council officials said at a briefing about the changes that the outdoor food waste boxes would be sealed and lockable, meaning that unlike blue bags they would not be prone to being split open by animals and birds in search of food.
In addition, the weighted bags for plastic and metal would be less likely to be blown over in high winds.
According to council figures, food waste made up the the majority of what is termed residual waste, or waste which is incinerated rather than recycled. The authority says that separating out food waste will enable it to be processed into fertiliser at a specialist centre and generate income.
Plastic and metal recycling will be collected together as it is easier to separate.
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