Recycling news and updates

Tuesday 23 - Thursday 25 May

Missed garden waste and cardboard collections 

Due to vehicle breakdowns, we were unable to collect garden waste and cardboard on the normal collection day from the streets below.

Our crews will return on the dates detailed below, so please leave your garden bins and yellow bags/cardboard out for collection.

Donington Le Heath - returning on Friday 26 May

• Manor Road
• Hunts Farm Close.

Whitwick - returning on Thursday 25 May

• Bryans Close
• Hogarth Road
• King Richards Hill
• Loughborough Road
• Parsonwood Hill
• Parsonwood Paddock
• Rockland Rise
• Temple Hill.

Hemington - returning on Wednesday 24 May

• Balmoral Court
• Church Lane - Cardboard collected on Thursday 25 May
• Grange Close
• Hall Gardens - Cardboard collected on Thursday 25 May
• Hemington Court - Cardboard collected on Thursday 25 May
• Kelhams Court - Cardboard collected on Thursday 25 May
• Lockington Lane
• Main Street - Cardboard collected on Thursday 25 May
• Rycroft Road
• Station Road
• The Horse Shoes - Cardboard collected on Thursday 25 May.

Castle Donington - returning on Wednesday 24 May

• Bentley Road
• Carrs Close
• Cheribough Road
• Cooks Drive
• Darsway
• Fosbrook Drive
• Fox Road
• Grange Road
• Lothian Place
• Merchantman Mews
• Minton Road
• Orchard Avenue
• Peartree Close
• Queensway
• Rawdon Close
• Roby Lea
• The Green
• Tipnall Road
• Towles Pastures.

Tuesday 23 May - garden waste and cardboard collections on New Street, Kegworth 

Unfortunately we have been unable to collect garden waste and cardboard from New Street in Kegworth on Tuesday 23 May due to parked vehicles blocking access.

Please leave your garden bin and yellow bags out as we will attempt to empty them on Wednesday 24 May and Thursday 25 May.

No room in your garden bin? Subscribe to the additional garden waste service!

You can now sign up to the 2023-24 additional garden waste service.

We provide one garden waste bin free of charge, but if this isn't enough for your gardening needs, you can pay for as many extra bins as you like.

The charge for 2023/24 is £45 per extra bin. This covers the fortnightly emptying of an extra garden waste bin from 1 June 2023 to 31 May 2024.

Sign up or renew for 2023/24

Recycle more and waste less this Easter

Planning for a low waste Easter? From recycling Easter egg packaging to reducing food waste, we have some ‘eggcellent’ tips and advice to help!

Easter egg packaging

Most Easter egg packaging is recyclable, but it isn’t always simple… just one Easter egg can contain at least 4 different types of packaging! Here’s what to do with it:

• Cardboard box – flatten and recycle in the yellow bag
• Plastic moulding – recycle in the red box with your plastics, cans, and tins
• Foil – recycle in the red box with your plastics, cans, and tins
• Chocolate bar / sweet wrappers and bags – recycle at most major supermarkets

Remember, we should always try to reduce our waste before we look at recycling it. Buying wisely and choosing eggs with minimal packaging can help. You could also try making your own Easter treats - saving you money and space in your recycling containers!

Easter cards

Around 20 million cards are sent and received at Easter in the UK… That’s a lot of paper, resources, and miles!

Reduce your carbon footprint by sending an e-card or social media message to friends and family instead. If you do choose to send a traditional Easter card, try to buy cards without glitter and bows so they can be easily recycled.

Easter cards can be recycled in the yellow bag with your cardboard - just take care to tear off any bows or glittery parts. You could use these to make your own cards next year, otherwise they should be put in the black bin.

Most paper envelopes can be recycled in the blue bag but please recycle any brown envelopes with your cardboard in the yellow bag.

Tackling food waste

Every year, UK households waste 4.5 million tonnes of edible food waste – that’s enough to fill 38 million wheelie bins!

One of the best ways to prevent food waste this Easter is by planning your meals, creating a shopping list, and then sticking to the plan. By doing this you’ll only buy what you actually need, and it could save you money too. Using a portion planner like this one can help.

Make your food last longer by making the most of your freezer. Lots of the foods we eat at Easter can be frozen, ready to enjoy at a later date – such as hot cross buns! Simply pop them in the freezer before the ‘use by’ date, then defrost in the fridge or microwave and toast when you’re ready to enjoy them again.

Do you know the difference between ‘best before’ and ‘use by’ dates? Understanding these labels on food packaging can help to make sure you’re not throwing good food away, or putting your health at risk. This useful guide explains the difference.

Love Food Hate Waste have lots of fantastic recipes for making the most of your food. Why not try this hot cross apple crumble recipe – perfect for using up any stale hot cross buns!

Recycling and waste collections over Easter

Our recycling and waste collections will run as normal over the Easter period. Please make sure your bins and containers are put out before 6am on your scheduled collection day.

2022-23 waste collection calendars

All 2022-23 waste collection calendars should have now been delivered to all households in the district.

The calendars detail your household recycling and waste collection dates for the next 12 months, starting from December 2022 (including Christmas and New Year collections) through to November 2023.

What if I have not received my calendar yet?

If you have not received your calendar, please email recycling@nwleicestershire.gov.uk or call 01530 454545.

You can also check your collection dates and download a copy of your calendar online or by searching your postcode using the ‘My Location’ search box available throughout the website.

Saving money whilst reducing waste - a win for your wallet and the environment

It can sometimes feel like making an eco-friendly choice just isn’t affordable – especially at a time when many are feeling financially stretched. But there are still plenty of changes we can make that not only result in less waste, but they can save you money too!

Save energy and money 

• Use LED bulbs – Each LED used in your home can make a lifetime saving of £180
• Turn down your wash – Washing at lower temperatures will help reduce energy use and is better for your clothes
• Defrost your freezer – A defrosted freezer costs around £150 less a year to run.

Repair it

It’s usually cheaper to repair a broken appliance than to buy a new one – especially if you can learn to fix it yourself.

There are a few groups around Leicestershire that can support you in repairing items.

• The repair bench (Coalville)
• Men in Sheds (Coalville)
• Leicester Fixers (Across Leicestershire)
• The Tech Shack (Coalville)

A good rule of thumb is to avoid spending more than 50% of the cost of a new product on repairing an old one. Otherwise it might be more cost-effective to replace the broken item!

Reuse it

Carrying a reusable water bottle not only saves the need to buy single-use plastic bottles of water, but you can have it filled up for free! Use the Refill app when out and about to check where your nearest refill point is, or just pop into the closest café or pub and ask them to fill up your bottle.

Reduce food waste 

The average family of four can save just over £60 per month by reducing their food waste, so it’s kind to our bank accounts as well as the planet.

Creating a meal plan, writing a shopping list, doing one big shop and then sticking to the meal plan really helps to only buy what you need and make sure it is all used up.

Keep an eye out for the discount shelves which display items that have reached their ‘use by’ date. Many of the items on these shelves are sold at a reduced price and can be put straight in the freezer for use at a later date.

Heading on holiday soon? In Britain we throw away £500 million worth of edible food before we go on holiday each year. From checking your freezer to making a homecoming meal, this ‘Traveller’s check’  has some great tips to help you stop good food from going to waste. 

Love Food Hate Waste have lots more tips for wasting less food whilst saving money.

Try real nappies 

Gone are the days of terry squares and soaking… converting to ‘real’ reusable nappies from disposables can make a big difference to the amount of rubbish families with young children generate.

On average, a baby uses between 5,000 and 7,000 disposable nappies over a 2.5 year period. And this can cost between £735 - £1,211 but a switch to reusable nappies can save up to £600!

Even a switch to only using reusable nappies when at home, and then disposables when out and about could make such a difference to your bank account and the environment.

Leicestershire County Council offer a free real nappy trial kit so you can find out which type of nappies suit your baby before buying.

Find out more about making a switch to reusable nappies.

Extra recycling? Help us to collect it with these tips...

Glass and plastic/cans/tins 

You can put extra red box recycling out in reusable plastic containers such as a washing up bowl or plastic storage boxes/baskets. Please make sure glass is always kept in a separate container to plastic/cans/tins/foil. 

You can also order extra red boxes online.

Unsure which items you can recycle? Find out here.

Cardboard

Extra cardboard which does not fit in the yellow bag should be flattened to no bigger than 2ft x 2ft and left next to the red boxes, weighed down if you can.

Please also remove any packaging such as polystyrene, plastic film/wrapping and any plastic straps. We can only collect clean cardboard (without any food left on it).

Additional yellow bags can also be ordered online.

Paper

If you regularly have more paper than will fit in your blue bag, you can order another blue bag. If you only occasionally have extra paper to recycle, please try to spread the amount you put out over a few collections.

Recycling put out in plastic bags will not be collected by our crews due to the issues they cause. Find out how plastic bags cause problems.

Garden waste

If you have more garden waste than will fit in your bin, please take a look at our tips and advice for disposing of extra garden waste.

Recycling collections in windy weather

If you have a recycling collection during windy conditions, you can help us to keep your neighbourhood tidy by doing the following:

• Fasten the velcro lids on your yellow and blue bags
• Put a lid on your red box
• Try not to overfill your red boxes - squeezing and squashing your plastic, cans and tins can help
• If possible, don't stack your red boxes.

These things help to stop your recycling from escaping and littering your neighbourhood.

If you need a new red box and/or lid please order one online or call 01530 454545 to request one.

We are very grateful to our residents who help to clear up any escaped recycling.

Recycle more this Christmas 

We often create more recycling and waste than usual around Christmas time. The best thing we can do for the environment is to minimise the amount of waste we create in the first place - the Less Waste website has lots of great tips to help.

But when it comes to recycling, we have some useful information and top tips to help.

• Wrapping paper can only be recycled in the blue bag if it passes the scrunch test. Foil or plastic based wrapping paper which doesn't scrunch up (and stay scrunched!) isn't recyclable. Please put any brown wrapping paper in the yellow bag.

• If you have extra recycling (tins, cans, plastics and glass) over Christmas, please avoid putting it in plastic bags. Instead use a plastic container like a washing-up bowl or plastic storage box - keeping glass separate.

• Please flatten extra cardboard to 2ft x 2ft and leave this out neatly bundled next to your yellow bag. You can also flatten it to this size and put it into cardboard boxes that are no bigger than a red box.

• Will you be enjoying roast turkey, nut roast or something else delicious in a foil dish or tray? If so, remember to give it a quick rinse and recycle it in your red box! All other types of foil can be recycled if it's clean.

• We will collect your real Christmas tree so it can be turned into compost! Just pop it inside your garden bin (not next to it). 

  The bin lid should fully close so trees may need to be trimmed/cut in order to fit. You can also take real Christmas trees to one of Leicestershire County Council’s Recycling and Household Waste Sites.

• Batteries and mobile phones should always be kept out of the black bin as they are a fire risk. Used batteries and old mobile phones can be put in a lidded, recyclable container (e.g. jam jar or plastic takeaway tub) and put out next to the red boxes for collection.

• Will you be enjoying some cranberry sauce or festive chutney over Christmas? Did you know you can recycle the plastic or metal lids? Simply unscrew the lid and put it in your red box with the rest of your plastic, cans and tins.

• Christmas cards and brown envelopes can be recycled in the yellow bag. You can help make sure they are recycled by tearing off any glittery bits.

• Small electrical items such as fairy lights should be kept out of the black bin. They can be taken to one of Leicestershire County Council’s Recycling and Household Waste Sites.

Please note over Christmas domestic waste left next to your bin won't be collected. Instead everyone will receive at least one extra domestic waste collection in place of a garden waste collection. Please refer to your collection calendar for further information.