Archived press release

Date Published: 10/04/06

Aylesbury Vale District Council is to make changes to the collection of waste from 2700 properties in Winslow and Buckingham for a trial period. The council will be trialling a new recycling service which will see garden waste collected from home...

Aylesbury Vale District Council is to make changes to the collection of waste from 2700 properties in Winslow and Buckingham for a trial period.

The council will be trialling a new recycling service which will see garden waste collected from homes as well as cardboard packaging and coloured paper for composting.

The changes will be introduced in parts of Winslow this month and in an area of Buckingham in September and will make it easier and more convenient for residents to recycle their waste. If successful, the council will consider rolling it out across the district.

Households taking part in the trial will each receive a 240 litre size brown bin. This is for the separate collection of garden waste and cardboard. They will also receive a refuse and recycling calendar for the next year and a leaflet explaining how the brown bin scheme works.

AVDC will collect garden waste and cardboard one week and pick up general household rubbish for landfill disposal the following week. Fortnightly collections of paper, plastic and cans, and the four-weekly collections of glass will continue as normal.

The contents of the brown bins will be taken to a local farm, shredded and then composted. This will reduce the amount of biodegradable refuse that would otherwise go into landfill sites.

The new scheme is part of AVDC’s ongoing campaign to increase the amount of material recycled in Aylesbury Vale every year, in line with government targets. People in Aylesbury Vale currently recycle about 20 per cent of their rubbish by weight, and the council is now working towards achieving 30 per cent. Failure to do so could result in fines from the government which could ultimately be reflected in higher council tax bills.

Councillor Sir Beville Stanier, Cabinet Member for Health and Environment, said: “Residents taking part in the trial won’t have to queue up at the tip or pay for the green bag scheme anymore – they can put their garden refuse in the brown bin instead. The new scheme will allow people to recycle more materials, giving them more room in their green bin. The brown bins will take not only garden waste, but cardboard and coloured paper, none of which we’ve been able to collect for recycling before.

“I have every confidence that residents in Winslow and Buckingham will see this as a positive step forward and will set an example for the rest of Aylesbury Vale. I appreciate that change is not always easy, but by working together, we can reduce the amount of waste being sent to landfill and improve our environment.”

Households in the Winslow area will start to receive the new bins this week ready for the first collections to begin from 26 April.

In order to avoid a build up of rubbish that won’t fit into the green bin, it is important that residents take full advantage of the council’s recycling collections for paper, plastics, cans and glass. If residents don’t have any recycling baskets or need more, they can contact the council on 01296 585110.

Further information about the green waste recycling trial is available on the council’s website by following the link on the left hand menu bar from the home page.