As many will now know, waste and recycling collection days are set to change for many households across Shropshire and here in Ludlow.
Across the county, 75% of households will see their day of collection change (77% in South Shropshire). Of the 16,144 households affected in South Shropshire, 2,976 (14%) would face an 18-day gap between collections due to the changes. To prevent overflowing bins, they households will receive an additional collection based on the original collection day.
Households in the south (the former South Shropshire and Bridgenorth District Council areas) will also see a change to their recycling collections. The green bin will be collected on the same day as the purple bin (hard recyclables) and the blue bag (paper).
This rerouting is two years overdue as a result of Covid, when the focus was on keeping services running during staff absence. The change is timed for November because much less green waste is collected and there are no major festivals or bank holidays.
The routes the collection trucks take haven’t been changed since 2007, since when more housing has been built and recycling has increased. A change of routing is required to ensure that collection is more efficient, reducing time, mileage and carbon emissions.
Shropshire Council is emphasising that bins should be out by 7.00am, rather than 7.30am as before. That means that most people will need to put the bins out overnight. If you are still using the black boxes for hard recyclables and can store a purple top bin (it’s the same 240 litre size as the black and green bins) you can order a bin here. Putting the boxes out overnight leads to street litter and I would urge anyone who can store a pink bin to get one. The same link works for replacement blue bags, which tend to wear out. The bags are mixed waste and recyclable.
This publicity for this change is being handled well by Shropshire Council and Veolia. But old habits die hard and I am sure we will get bins put out on the wrong day for a short while.
There will be more details in leaflets on your bins shortly, and also here on my blog and the Shropshire Council website. All households will get a calendar in an envelope, along with recycling tips. All those having changes to days of collection will also get postcard delivered by Royal Mail giving details of the next five collections.
