Waste Charter

Excellent recycling services don't happen by accident, so we set out the standards we will meet, based on what you have told us. 

Here's our Waste Charter commitment - and you can read more by downloading our refuse and recycling policy on this page.

What you can expect from us:

• We will abide by our waste collection commitment
• We will collect your recycling and waste containers on the same day on an alternate weekly basis - and if we cannot collect we will leave an advice card to let you know why
• We will return your containers to where they were collected from
• We will pick up any spillages we cause
• We will collect your waste and recycling containers from the edge of your property next to the public highway, or a place otherwise agreed by us.
• Where we have not collected your waste and recycling container(s) which was presented correctly and on time we will return to empty it within 5 working days - if the failure to empty the container(s) was our fault. Normally we would return within 2 working days, but due to the current Coronavirus pandemic we'll return within 5 working days. This only applies to the black bin, currently we cannot return for missed collections of garden waste and recycling.

What we can expect from you:

• You will present your waste and recycling containers on the edge of your property next to the public highway, so they are highly visible and accessible on the correct collection day by 6am
• You will put the right material in the right container for safety and operational reasons - to make sure your waste and recycling materials are collected
• You will take your waste and recycling containers back in as soon as possible after collection has been made on the same collection day
• You will use the containers appropriately - for example putting lids on red boxes to prevent waste escaping and to keep the neighbourhood tidy
• You will make your own arrangements to dispose of your waste if you did not present your waste on time to avoid adding unnecessary cost to the service.

Policy review:

In 2013 the Council's Refuse & recycling collections policy (PDF Document, 1.08 Mb) resulted in a reduction in the size of the standard wheeled bin for refuse from a 240 litre wheeled bin to a 180 litre wheeled bin.

Please note, the current refuse and recycling policy was refreshed in June 2015. As part of the refresh it made clear that clear that the Council's recently introduced policy of issuing new and replacement 180l sized wheeled bins for refuse applies to all households in the District (for households of between 1 and 3 occupants) and not just new households.

In addition at the time of writing the policy the intent was to look to introduce a wheeled bin for plastics and cans for households that have multiple red boxes. A trial was undertaken at the time the policy was being considered. The trial was not successful in that the recycling vehicles could not reliably lift the wheeled bins on a frequent basis so this element of the policy will be removed.