Major changes to the day of the week that wheeled bins, green boxes and sacks are collected in Huntingdonshire are being planned by Huntingdonshire District Council.  The changes to collection days, which will start to take effect in September, will affect over 60,000 domestic properties across the district.

Head of Operations Robert Ward said:”Because we introduced the wheeled bin refuse and recycling service gradually over quite a long period of time, we left the day of collection unchanged.  That way residents only had to get used to using the new service, without having to worry about what day the collections would be.  The service is now operating successfully across the whole district and the weights and volumes that each part of the service is generating has now settled down sufficiently for us to be able to reschedule collections to make the best possible use of the resources we use to run the service”.

A publicity and information programme is planned for the coming weeks to make sure that everyone knows their new collection days.  This will include sending individual letters to all residents affected by a day change.

Councillor Colin Hyams, executive councillor for operations, who has cabinet responsibility for the refuse and recycling services said: “The changes that we are making will ensure that the service can absorb planned growth over the next few years to cater for new developments, while still being able to accommodate ongoing increases in the levels of recycling.  

“The new arrangements will reduce the number of vehicles needed and will generate savings of £100,000 a year. The current principle of grey and green bins being collected on the same day of alternate weeks, so food waste can be put into either bin in hot weather – a key issue for many local residents -- will be retained.  Recycling bins and boxes will also continue to be collected on alternate weeks as they are at present.

“The enthusiasm that residents have shown for the service right across the district has lead to recycling levels rising dramatically, with over 50 per cent of all the waste material now collected being sent for recycling”.