19 February 2007, 07/62
Full marks for presentation
Residents in West Lancashire are already doing a fantastic job of
recycling their waste. To enhance this, and to make sure that as
much material as possible is being recycled, the District Council
is offering handy hints on the best way to present items for
collection.
On residents' allocated collection day, all recycling material
should be put out for collection by 7am. Residents whose property
opens straight onto a public pavement should make sure that items
cause as little disruption to the pavement area as possible.
Everyone else should put items at the very edge of their property,
easily accessible to the collection crew.
Cardboard and textiles:
- To present cardboard for collection please collapse packaging and
bundle it together. This could be done by putting all your
cardboard out for collection inside another cardboard box, folding
it as flat as possible and trapping it under you blue box or tying
it up with a piece of string (please don't use cellotape).
Alternatively, you can put all your flattened cardboard into old
supermarket carrier bags.
- It doesn't matter if your cardboard gets wet - we will still
collect it.
- Only put out clean dry clothes in your textiles bag and make sure
that you tie the top of the bag to protect the contents. We cannot
collect shoes, duvets or pillows. Please note that our textile bags
are usually clear, but some residents may receive a pink
transparent sack, this is a temporary measure and you will receive
a clear bag in the near future, but in the meantime these sacks
will be collected.
- One textiles bag will be provided to each household, however if
you find that you cannot fit all of your textiles into the one bag,
call Customer Services on 01695 577177 and they will arrange for an
additional bag to be delivered to you.
Blue box and blue bag:
- Please rinse all containers and remove lids and corks before
placing items in your blue box. If you can, please squash your cans
and plastic bottles - it means you get more in your box and we can
collect more. If you can't fit everything in, leave the extra in
supermarket carrier bags at the side. Ideally keep the same
materials together i.e. all plastic in one bag and all tins in
another bag.
- You can help us by not putting out broken glass, mirrors or any
other plastic than bottles (like yogurt pots and margarine tubs)
and any other metal aside from tins or cans, as we are unable to
collect them.
- Bulky telephone directories, catalogues, brochures and even
yellow pages can now be put out for collection in your blue bag
along with the usual magazines, newspapers, shredded paper and junk
mail.
Green bag/bin:
- Ensure only garden waste goes in your green bin/bag, such as
grass cuttings, hedge clippings, small branches, weeds, leaves and
flowers. We can only take what is contained inside your green
bin/bag and your bin lid must be closed. If you have got additional
garden material why not compost it or take it down to your local
household waste recycling centre who will be happy to take it off
your hands?
Although all your recycling materials are collected on the same day
there is a separate collection team for your cardboard and
textiles, blue bag and box and green bin/bag - so don't worry if
only some of your items have been removed, another collection crew
will be on their way!
Cllr Baldock, Portfolio Holder for Refuse and Recycling, said: "Our
main aim is to increase the amount of waste that is recycled, to
make it easy for people to recycle, and to reduce the amount of
waste that goes to landfill. The majority of residents have really
embraced the new system of collections and it is thrilling to see
how our recycling figures are rising."
"It is such a waste when items cannot be recycled because they have
not been properly presented for collection. I hope that offering
this guidance will help to continue the District's recycling
success and ensure that as much material as possible is recycled.
Thank you for helping to make West Lancashire a cleaner and greener
place to live!"
For further details on the recycling schemes and to view a list of
frequently asked questions visit our Refuse section or call 01695 577177.
Related information
> Council
news
> Refuse & recycling