Residents will soon receive a new wheelie bin for their kerbside recycling as Council introduces improvements to the kerbside recycling collection service.

Between now and the end of June, Council will deliver the new 240-litre recycling wheelie bins to residents who receive kerbside recycling services.

After the new recycling service starts on 1 July, glass will need to be separated out from other recycling.

Environmental Engineer Ryan Hughes said people should use the new bin to recycle paper, cardboard, hard plastics, and tins and cans.

“The green recycling crate you use at the moment will be for putting your glass recycling in, so you’ll need to keep it.”

He said glass needs to be separated from other recyclable materials because it is processed differently at sorting facilities for safety reasons.

“The improvements we’re making to the service aim to increase the amount of material recycled, reduce the waste sent to landfill, and reduce health and safety risks to staff who collect and sort recycled materials.”

The changes are being made in response to feedback from the community.

“Council consulted the community on the Waste Minimisation and Management Plan last year, and again during public engagement on the Annual Plan 2019/20. The feedback we got showed support for making it easier for people to recycle. We’re putting that into effect,” Mr Hughes said.

As well as making it easier for people to do more recycling, the new bins contain a RFID chip that identifies the property each bin belongs to.

“The RFID chip will help to stop your bin from being stolen. It will also enable Council to identify and educate anyone who misuses the recycling service,” said Mr Hughes.

When the changes come into effect, a three-strike system will operate for serious contamination of bins with non-recyclable material. On the first strike, residents will receive a notice. On the second strike, residents will receive a second notice and the bin will not be emptied. On the third strike, the bin will be confiscated and the resident will need to visit Council’s main office to retrieve it.

The new service means kerbside recycling will be collected every two weeks, instead of every week. However, the recycling collection day will stay the same.

The kerbside rubbish collection service will not change, and will continue to be collected weekly.

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