Recycling information in B&NES

Below are the details of what can be recycled in Bath and North East Somerset:

If you have two green recycling boxes (55 litres), please separate your recycling as detailed below. If you live in a flat, you may have communal recycling bins instead of a green recycling box.

Bath and North East Somerset Council collect three recycling types in green boxes:

• Type 1: Metal cans, empty aerosols, clean foil, plastic bottles, tubs and trays. (No polystyrene, black plastic, crisp packets, plastic bags or wrapping.)
• Type 2: Glass bottles and jars. Labels and lids can be left on. (No broken glass, drinking glasses, or glass cookware.)
• Type 3: Paper. (No tissues, kitchen towel, or wrapping paper.

The Council also collects batteries, clothing and textiles, small electrical items, used engine oil and filters with your green box recycling. Please place these items in a tied carrier bag on top of your green box.

Engine oil must be in sealed engine oil containers. Drain and wrap oil filters in plastic bags to avoid leaks. We can only accept clothing and textiles that are clean, dry, and in a reusable condition. We can't take uniform, quilts, duvets, pillows, cushions, rugs or curtains.

For more information on what we can and cannot accept, check our Recycling A-Z.

We will only collect small electrical items which fit into a tied carrier bag (hairdryers, mobile phones (including batteries and chargers), kettles, toasters etc.)

Cardboard - This will only be collected if it is broken down and placed in your blue bag, any large cardboard boxes left by the side of your recycling will not be taken.

Food Waste

Using your kitchen caddy and food bin

Take note of the following guidelines for using your smaller kitchen caddy (5 litres) and larger food bin (23 litres).

• line your kitchen caddy with a plastic carrier bag, compostable liner or newspaper (no black bags or bags for life)
• ensure food waste is not loose inside your food waste bin or caddy
• empty your kitchen caddy into your larger food bin outside before it gets too full, if you have one (if using newspaper to line your kitchen caddy, wrap up your food when you empty it into your food bin outside, so it doesn't get stuck when we collect it)
• lock your kitchen caddy or food bin by pulling the handle forward to keep out animals
• rinse your caddy and bin regularly.

Putting your recycling out

To help us collect your recycling box, please take note of the following:

• put your recycling boxes at the front edge of your property where we can see them
• put your recycling boxes out by 6am on your collection day (or no earlier than 8pm the night before)
• bring your emptied boxes back in on your collection day as soon as you can
• don't put out large or hazardous items

Getting a Replacement Recycling box/bag

You can order the following items using the online form here:

• Green recycling box with or without a lid. You can order more than one. (55 litres; 35cm x 41cm x 36cm)
• Blue recycling bag (91 litres; 45cm cubed)
• Food recycling bin (23 litres, 40cm high) with a lockable lid to put your food waste out for collection
• Food recycling kitchen caddy to store your food waste in the kitchen, or use instead of a food bin if you have less storage space (5 litres, 20cm high)
• Roll of green recycling sacks for dry recycling in some areas of Bath

Waste and recycling

This is the busiest time of year for the councils waste and recycling crews. Crews are working extra time including Saturdays to ensure that any backlog is cleared.

Please be patient whilst our crews work hard and please ensure that your waste is presented for easy collection. 

 

Christmas and New Year rubbish and recycling collections

Every household has been sent a leaflet advising them of changes to the recycling and rubbish collection dates and highlighting the outstanding 60% recycling rate achieved across the area, which has helped save 51,000 tonnes of waste – enough to pack Bath Abbey to its vaulted ceiling around 14 times. You can also check your collection dates online.

Waste and recycling

This is the busiest time of year for the councils waste and recycling crews. Crews are working extra time including Saturday’s to ensure that any backlog is cleared.

Please be patient whilst our crews work hard and please ensure that your waste is presented for easy collection. 

New reusable red recycling bag trial launched

Five hundred households across Bath and North East Somerset are set to receive a new reusable red bag to trial a simpler way to sort plastics and metal for recycling.

Residents chosen to take part in the 12-week trial will have the bags delivered to their homes in the week beginning February 24 and can begin to use it to recycle:

• household plastic bottles, pots, tubs, and trays
• metal packaging such as tins, cans, foil, and aerosols

The aim of the trial by Bath & North East Somerset Council is to make it easier for residents to sort materials and store containers, which in turn will help streets stay cleaner. Bags take up less space than boxes and will benefit households with limited storage space.

The trial areas have been chosen to reflect the diverse types of properties and housing density within B&NES. A full list of the areas and roads which will receive the red bags can be found on the red recycling bag trial webpage. 

Councillor Tim Ball, cabinet member for Neighbourhood Services, said: “It’s due to the fantastic commitment of our residents that we recycle more than 60% of our household waste and send just 3% to landfill, but we appreciate that sorting it can be time consuming. The red bag trial aims to make it easier for residents and collection crews to sort the plastics and metals, as well as reduce litter and spillage on collection day as the bags are sealable. 

“Other local authorities have found bags to be a good solution for recycling storage and collection as they are cheaper and take up less space than boxes. Well-sorted recycling can also be sold for more money, which helps to cover collection costs and fund vital local services.”

The trial will run from February 24 until May 23. Residents who are taking part will be asked to fill in an online or paper survey to give their feedback. During the trial, the council will also monitor the quality of recycling from trial roads, levels of litter before and during the trial, assess the ease of use and storage and gather feedback from collection crews.

The results of the survey will be presented to Cabinet later in the summer together with a recommendation report on the outcomes of the trial.

Residents taking part in the trial who need any additional help can email council_connect@bathnes.gov.uk or call on 01225 39 40 41.

Find out more about recycling in B&NES 

Christmas Waste/Recycling Dates

Below are the dates that waste and recycling will be collected over the Christmas period

Christmas trees can be collected from January 18 after garden waste collections resume, taken to a Recycling Centre or collected by Dorothy House. The charity has a dedicated website for people who live in BA1, BA2, BA3 and BS31 postcodes to arrange for their Christmas tree to be collected by volunteers. Keynsham is a new collection area added for 2021.
 

Update to rubbish and recycling collection times from August 2020

Bath anad North East Somerset councile are reviewing operating times to help crews during the hot weather. Rubbish and recycling collections will now start from 6am (instead of 7am) and will finish later than previously. Residents must leave their waste and recycling containers at the front edge of their property by 6am (one hour earlier) on their normal collection day. To ensure collections are not missed, residents are advised to put their containers out the night before their collection day (no earlier than 8pm).
Collection times are likely to vary throughout the day and bins may need to be left out longer than they normally would. Once bins have been collected, residents must bring their empty containers back in as soon as possible on their collection day.
Summary of changes to rubbish and recycling collection times

• Collections now start an hour earlier from 6am
  
• Crews may arrive earlier or later in the day than previously
  
• Collection times are likely to vary throughout the summer
  For more information and the latest updates please visit the Rubbish page of our website: https://beta.bathnes.gov.uk/rubbish
  If you have any concerns regarding the updated collection times, please contact Council Connect on 01225 394041
  

Twerton and Whiteway Updates

We hope all residents across Twerton and Whiteway had a safe and peaceful Christmas Day.

Tim and Sarah have been out around the area today to check out a few issues and pick up on any other problems in the community, it was rather damp.

It is good to see that BT have finally removed all the damaged telephone boxes that have not been in operation for a while.

We have also made a list of other problems that need addressing in a number of streets across the ward and will report back on these early in the new year.

Please remember there is no rubbish or recycling collection this Friday, it will be collected on Monday 30th December, so please do not put anything out over the weekend as this is likely to be blown around the streets.

Rubbish and Recycling

Part of the issue with litter on our streets is the incorrect presentation of rubbish and recycling for collection.

In Twerton and Whiteway we have rubbish collected every fortnight on a Friday and recycling is collected every week on a Friday.

Every household across the area should have either a black bin or black reusable rubbish sack in which to put their household waste, we would encourage as many households as possible to recycle their waste as this reduces the amount of rubbish to be put into these containers and therefore means extra black bags are less likely to be put out.

The flats across the area have a slightly different storage solution, a number of these have dedicated large bins in bin stores which should only be used for household waste and not for anything else like broken appliances etc.

Recycling containers are not restricted, every household is entitled to green boxes, blue sack (for cardboard) and black food containers.  

The food waste containers come in 2 sizes a small caddy for internal use and a larger one that you can then put the bags from the internal caddy into.  Food waste can be put out in plastic bags, or you can get caddy bags from the Council.

The green boxes are not restricted to a single box per household, if you require more receptacles for your recycling please do get in touch with Council connect or you can order additional boxes here, This link also shows exactly what can be recycled and when your collection days are.

The Council also offers a garden waste recycling service, you can either purchase single use green waste bags or you can pay an annual charge and use a wheelie bin to put you green waste out every fortnight.

If you have any questions about the rubbish or recycling service, please do get in touch with Tim or Sarah.  We are keen to get as many residents to present their waste correctly to help improve the condition of our streets.

How can people in flats recycle when this is the norm

Is it any wonder that residents living in some of our flats in Twerton don’t recycle their waste if the receptacles that they need to put the recycled materials are left in a state like this by the council.

The bins pictured are at Walwyn Close in Twerton and are shared by 3 blocks of flats residents tell me it is over 3 weeks since these were last emptied.

We have been onto the council regarding these bins and have asked that they are kept clear on a regular basis.

It is no good the council threatening to fine people for not recycling properly if they don’t provide the facilities that are usable  by residents.

Missed bins and missed recycling collections not a good start

The roll out of the new refuse collection and recycling seems to have run into just a few hurdles in the first two weeks of its running.

Complaints have been received that refuse collections have not been made at several houses, these have all been reported.

Tonight complaints have been coming in that Tanners Walk has not had its recycling collected and we have asked the council to resolve this matter as soon as possible.

If you have problems with your collections then please contact council connect council_connect@bathnes.gov.uk or ring 01225 394041.

We have also been told today that if you are elderly or disabled and unable to dispose of your old bin or have exceptional circumstances your old bin may be able to be collected, please contact council connect to enquire.

Waste & Recycling Alterations

This Monday, 6th November, is the start of the new Waste & Recycling changes brought in by the Council.

Please be aware your collection day is likely to have changed.  Make sure you read the leaflet that was delivered with your bin/bag as this contains important information about your collection.

The recycling will still be collected EVERY week, however, the day for this is likely to have changed, a lot of Twerton has been altered to now be collected on a FRIDAY not a Tuesday.

Your rubbish collection will be collected fortnightly and your garden waste is staying as fortnightly.  There is a calendar shown on the leaflet that you will have received.  This shows the weeks are split into green week and black week.  Green week will be the week your garden waste will be collected and black week is when your non-recyclable household rubbish will be collected.

After checking this information, we discovered that with this combination of changes there is going to be a 17 day wait for the first non-recyclable household rubbish collection for a number of households in the Twerton area.  We have been told by a Senior Waste Officer at the council, to accommodate this change they will be accepting additional black waste sacks put along side your new container for the first couple of collections. 

Your waste and recycling  bins/boxes/bags should be put outside your property by 7am on the day of collection, but should not be put out before 8pm the night before.  The council have said they may impose a £60 fine for anyone that is not complying with the guidelines they have provided within their leaflet, and no containers should obstruct footpaths.

If you have any questions about this please do get in touch with either the waste services team or us.

Missed recycling

The following roads were missed for collections today due to high volumes of waste residents of these roads should put out their waste again on Wednesday for collection.

Camely Green/Cleve Green,Dartmouth Ave,Landseer Rd,Newton Rd/Camely Green,Newton Rd/Cleeve Green,Pennard Green,Pennard Green/Cleve Green,Shawsway / Camely Green,Shawsway / Pennard Green,Shophouse Rd (top to Innox), Watery Lane,

Recycling Collections still being missed

Despite the councils announcement that the industrial dispute over recycling collections is now over recycling collections are still being missed in Twerton.

We have been told that another attempt to collect will be made tomorrow Thursday and residents who have not had a collection this week should put their recycling waste back out for collection.

Recycling collections in Twerton abandoned this week.

For those residents who were due to have their recycling waste collected this week that was not picked up on Tuesday are being told that it will not be collected until Tuesday 19th Jan.

Affected residents are being asked to take their waste back in and put it back out next week.

We have pressed the council to ensure that any recycling not taken back in is cleared as soon as possible to avoid more mess on our streets.

The council has a duty to ensure that Waste is cleared away and must ensure that its contractor delivers on its obligations.

Disruption to Recycling Collections – update: Tuesday 5 January

The Council have been advised that there is still ongoing industrial action by staff working for their recycling contractor Kier, in the form of an overtime ban. 

 As a result of this, if you were due to have your recycling collected on Tuesday 5^th January (including those re-scheduled from Saturday  2^nd January) there may be some disruption to your recycling and food waste collections.  

If your recycling and food waste was scheduled for Tuesday 5^th January and has not been collected please put it back out for collection tomorrow (Wednesday 6^th January).

The recycling centres at Keynsham, Old Welton and Bath are open Monday – Friday 8am – 4.15pm.  Facilities to recycle all of the materials collected as part of the kerbside recycling collections, including food waste are available at all three sites.

We have reported several streets that have not been collected today and have been assured that these will be collected on Wednesday.

Christmas & New Year refuse and recycling collections.

Christmas and New Year recycling and rubbish collection changes

There are no collections on these bank holidays:

• Christmas day (Friday 25 December)
• New Year’s Day (Friday 1 January 2016)

Recycling and rubbish collections
Usual collection day	Revised collection day
Friday 25 December	Saturday 2 January 2016
Friday 1 January 2016

Recycling and rubbish will be collected as normal on Bank Holiday Monday 28 December.

Garden waste and Christmas tree collections

There are no garden waste collections for 2 weeks from Friday 25 December to Thursday 7 January 2016.  Normal collections will begin from Friday 8 January.

Highland Road

We have received reports that rubbish and recycling were not collected from Highland Road due to very bad parking that resulted in the Lorry being unable to gain access.

A further attempt will made to collect the rubbish and recycling on Wednesday.

Extra recycling collections this Saturday, 4 July

Bath & North East Somerset Council is putting on extra recycling collections tomorrow (Saturday 4 July) as it catches up with delays to the service caused by the exceptional heat.

While the Council’s Waste Management Team works to return collections to normal, residents are requested to leave their recycling out and are being reassured it will be collected as soon as possible.

On Wednesday this week, the Council announced that circuit boards in the compactors of the waste collection trucks were overheating as a result of soaring temperatures on the hottest July day on record.  This resulted in a reduction in the number of vehicles available to the Waste Management Service.

Bath & North East Somerset Council responded quickly by hiring in extra vehicles and has made modifications to its fleet to counteract the impact of the high temperatures. As a result of this swift action, collection crews were able to catch up with the Wednesday backlog by the end of Thursday.

The crews are working hard to keep on top of the collections and are staying out on the roads until later today to ensure that all general waste is collected. They will also be making additional recycling collections on Saturday to ensure they are back on track. If your recycling has not yet been collected then please leave it out. Collections may be made earlier or later than usual.

What do you think about your Neighbourhood Environmental Services?

Bath & North East Somerset Council would like residents feedback on the Environmental Services they provide, by completing a short on-line survey.

The survey can be found here and the deadline for this is 8th July 2015.  Make sure you have your say.