Bath and North East Somerset Council is changing the way it collects rubbish, beginning from Monday, 6th November.

The Council will soon be collecting rubbish fortnightly in wheeled bins or re-usable bags for the majority of residents. The council says the changes will help to keep the streets cleaner, increase recycling and make the services more affordable.

Recycling, including food waste, will continue to be collected weekly. The chargeable garden waste collections will remain every other week.

From Monday, 25th September to early November, the Council will deliver wheeled bins or re-usable rubbish bags to around 78,000 households. Please continue to put out your rubbish as you normally do until the new collection starts.

It is important that you do not use your new wheeled bin or re-usable rubbish bag until the new collection starts as the council won’t be able to collect it.

Councillor Bob Goodman (Conservative, Combe Down), Cabinet Member for Development and Neighbourhoods, said: “The Council has held over 100 recycling roadshows and talks across B&NES between September 2016 and August 2017, to help our residents get ready for the changes – which will help encourage people to recycle more, keep streets clean and save money.

“In addition, we’ve listened to those residents who have asked for a change to their bin allocation, and we have made a number of changes, where possible, in response to their individual circumstances. In over half the cases processed so far, where residents have requested a different bin or bag, the Council has agreed to this request.”

The wheeled bins will be delivered to the front edge of your property, with a printed address label on the back and a welcome pack tucked into the lid. It is fine if you wish to decorate your bin, such as adding a bin wrap or painting your house number on, but the bin does remain the property of the Council.

If you have been allocated a re-usable rubbish bag, it will be delivered to your door, and your welcome pack put through your letterbox. If you already have a re-usable rubbish bag, please use your new one from 6th November. The Council will collect old, re-useable bags at the end of October, so that everyone is using the best containers for the new service.

Your welcome pack will include:

• An 8 page leaflet with full information on how to use the new service and a reminder of all the things you can recycle each week.

• A new collection calendar for 2017-18, showing your collection day and Christmas collection information – please check carefully, as your collection day is likely to have changed. To help you get used to your new collection day, you can sign up for texts for the first three months to remind you when your collection is due. Text your postcode to 07520 631700 to receive a reminder.

• Two stickers for you to put on your green boxes to help you sort your recycling.

If you have a query with your allocation, please contact the Council Connect waste enquiry line on: 01225 39 40 00. Where households have two or more children in nappies, six or more people in their household or a clear medical need, they may be able to apply for a larger bin.

The Council says the changes are being introduced to encourage residents to recycle more, keep streets cleaner and save money.

About 75% of a household’s waste can be recycled using the current collections, but over half of an average rubbish bag consists of items that could have been recycled. The change will also help to encourage everyone to use their food recycling collection – only about 50% of households currently use this. About a third of the waste in black sacks currently is food.

Every lorry load of waste costs £1,000 to dispose of, whilst every lorry load of recycling earns an income of £100.