New bins: changes to AVDC's refuse and recycling services
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AVDC will be providing a new type of refuse and recycling service, starting in September 2012. You will receive new recycling bins and an information pack during this summer. You can also come along to one of our road show events this summer, to find out more (scroll down this page for details).
What will the new collection system be like?
More types of materials will be collected for recycling.
Each household will receive a large 240-litre recycling wheeled bin (with a blue hinged lid) for all paper, glass, cardboard, plastics, cans and tins, which will be mixed together. This means residents will only have to store a single bin for all these materials and won’t have to separate them. By providing a bigger bin and collecting cardboard for the first time, this will increase the volume of recycling collected – we are aiming to increase recycling amounts from around 21% in 2012 to over 50% in 2014. Recycling collections will continue to be made every fortnight. Click here for more information about the new recycling bin and what goes in it.
Food waste will be collected separately, every week. Each household will receive a small bin, with a tightly fitting lid to stop any smells escaping, and to prevent insects and vermin getting in. The contents will be collected weekly and go to an anaerobic digestion plant, where gas will generate electricity. The solid residue is sold to farmers as a fertiliser. Households will also be supplied with a kitchen caddy, to collect scraps in. AVDC residents have helped us choose what type of bins will work best for them.
WRAP, the not-for-profit recycling organisation, says that food waste represents between 25 and 30% of waste collected by local authorities. Proportionally more household food waste is currently disposed of as landfill than other types of waste.
Click here for more information about food waste and pictures of the new food bins.
The collection rounds will be reorganised over 4 days (Tuesday to Friday), rather than 5.
The main advantage for customers is that whenever there are bank holidays on a Monday, there will be no disruption to the collection service. This means that the only collection dates that will change will be at Christmas and New Year, and after Good Friday. This system also means that if collections are delayed, for example, because of bad weather, crews have an extra day they can work to undertake catch-up collections.
The 4-day week has other benefits for us, such as being able to do staff training and vehicle maintenance on Mondays (saving on hiring replacement vehicles), and a reduced overtime bill.
As part of the changes to the collection rounds, our crews will no longer pick up bags of rubbish left alongside green bins (known as side waste). This is because they have to make extra trips to the vehicle to put in individual bags, which slows them down and is also less safe for the crews because of the potential for injury. Residents should have plenty of room in their green bins if they make full use of the new recycling and food waste bins. The need for side waste should be substantially reduced.
The residual household waste (eg non-recyclable materials) will be collected in the existing green refuse bins. These collections will be made on alternate weeks, fitting in between the recycling collections. Households of five or more people may request a larger green bin.
A paid-for garden waste collection service will be introduced in April 2012. For more details of the service, click here. This new service will replace the brown bin service currently operating in Winslow and Buckingham when the 4-day week collections start in September/October.
People who live in properties that are not suitable for bins and who currently use black sacks will receive new sacks: purple for general waste and transparent blue for the new mix of recycling materials. They will also receive the new food waste bin and kitchen caddies - click here for more information.
We are currently looking at what arrangements will be best for people living in blocks of flats where individual bins aren't a good option.
Visit our road show
This summer, we're taking our refuse information trailer out around Aylesbury Vale to talk to people about the changes to the waste service that we're introducing in September. More dates are being added all the time, so check again later to see if we're visiting a site near you. Please note that many of the events listed are organised by other organisations and may be subject to cancellation at short notice due to bad weather or other reasons beyond our control.
May
Saturday 5: May Day celebrations on Edlesborough Green (12-5pm) CANCELLED DUE TO BAD WEATHER
Sunday 13: Aston Clinton Village Market, Aston Clinton School
Wednesday 16 May: WI meeting, Buckingham Community Centre 7pm
Sunday 20: Chiltern Vintage Car Rally at Weston Turville (all day event)
CANCELLED DUE TO FLOODED SITE
June
Saturday 2 June: Waddesdon Country Show, Waddesdon estate grounds
Sunday 3: Pitstone Fair, Recreation Ground, afternoon
Monday 4: Thornborough Village Green Diamond Jubilee celebrations, all day event
Thursday 7: Princesses & Knights event, Aylesbury town centre, 11am to 2pm
Friday 8: Family Picnic, Walrton Court playing fields, Aylesbury, lunchtime
Saturday 16: Haddenham Village Fair, Church End Green
Tuesday 19: Waitrose car park, Buckingham, 10am onwards
July
Thursday 5: Market, Wendover High Street 10am onwards
Saturday 7: Roald Dahl Festival, Aylesbury town centre, all day
Thursday 26: Magic show, Aylesbury town centre, 11am to 2pm
August
Wednesday 1: Play Day, Vale Park, Aylesbury, 10am onwards
Thursday 2: Inflatable fun, Aylesbury town centre, 11am to 2pm
Sunday 5: Winslow Farmers' Market, Market Square
Monday 27: Winslow Show, opposite Winslow Hall
Thursday 30: Bucks County Show, Weedon Road - AVDC marquee