Winter changes to your green bin collection

From November 29 2010 until February 25 2011, Rotherham Borough Council will be asking households to use their green bins for cardboard only and not green garden waste.

Instead of putting any green garden waste into their green bins during the winter months, householders are being asked to either home compost or use the Household Waste Recycling Centres for any garden waste they have.

This will leave their green bins clear for just clean cardboard during December, January and February.

Cllr Jahangir Akhtar, Cabinet Member for Safe and Attractive Neighbourhoods for the Council, explained: "Over recent years we have found that the amount of garden waste really drops off in the winter months but that the amount of cardboard increases.

"Those that already compost will know that you require an equal balance of garden waste and card (greens and browns) for your home compost bin to work.  This is the same with the Council's green bin composting scheme.

"On average, the waste in the green bin is made up of approximately 90 per cent cardboard in the winter months.  It makes far more sense to recycle the cardboard back into new cardboard products rather than trying to compost it. Householders will shortly receive a sticker fixed to the lids of their green bins showing details of the cardboard only scheme." 

Householders are also reminded to ensure that any cardboard placed in the green bin is clean with no tape, plastic inserts and polystyrene filler.

If the load is contaminated with items that should not be in the green bin the whole load may get rejected and have to go to a landfill site.  This may result in the authority not reaching its national and European recycling targets and could result in the Council being fined.

Householders are asked to continue to place their green bins out on their normal collection day and time during the trial period. The full garden waste and cardboard collection service will re-start from Monday February 28, next year.

Householders will be notified separately of the arrangements for the Christmas and New Year collections.