It seems residents in Bath and North East Somerset have done a little too well in reducing the amount of general household rubbish this Christmas. Due to the volume of recycling collections, the Council were reporting delays to many areas, including Peasedown St John, Camerton and Temple Cloud.

Waste collections across B&NES went to a fortnightly service in November 2017, in a bid to save the Council money and to encourage residents to recycle more. The move has certainly helped recycling rates, but has now meant that the Council has had to find extra staff and additional vehicles to help with the load, which is more than ever, and leaving many kerbs still with recycling left to collect, as staff try to catch up.

As of Friday, 29th December, parts of Ubley, Keynsham, Queen Charlton, West Harptree, Clutton, Temple Cloud, Chelwood, Bathwick, Widcombe, Fox Hill and Bear Flat, Bath, were still left waiting for collections.

Inbetween Christmas and New Year, the Council was encouraging readers to recycle more in 2018. Most people recycle paper, bottles and cans, but according to the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) only 12% of households are recycling all they can. More than half of us are still not regularly recycling everything we can from the bathroom and the average UK household only recycles 270 of the 480 plastic bottles they use each year.

With your tins and cans and plastic you can recycle: aerosols – empty deodorant and hairspray, furniture polish and air fresheners; biscuit tins – metal and plastic biscuit tins can be included with your plastic and cans; cleaning bottles – including bleach bottles and bathroom cleaners; liquid soap bottles – empty, rinse and remove pump dispenser (throw in the bin); and shower gel, shampoo and conditioner bottles – (rinse, squash and replace the lids).

With cardboard, you can also recycle empty tissue boxes and boxes for dishwasher tablets and washing powder (please flatten cardboard). You can also recycle broken electric toys – if they are small enough to fit inside a plastic carrier bag, you can put them out next to your green box for recycling.

With your clothes and shoes you can recycle bedding – sheets, pillowcases and duvet covers (no pillows, duvets or other stuffed items). Please put in a labelled bag to keep dry. You can also recycle clothing accessories – including hats, bags, belts and jewellery.

Food waste caddy or bins can be lined with an everyday carrier bag (such as a plastic carrier bag, bread bag or vegetable bag), so if you haven’t already started recycling your food waste, you can order your food bin now. Cllr Bob Goodman (Conservative, Combe Down), Cabinet Member for Development and Neighbourhoods said: “If we all recycle as much as we possibly can, that means we need to throw away less in our rubbish bins. Please make sure that you only put your rubbish in your wheeled bin or re-usable rubbish bag – do not put out any extra rubbish.”

To find out more about local collections, visit: www.bathnes.gov.uk/wasteservices or contact Council Connect ([email protected], 01225 394041).

Editor: Please note, B&NES Council are still unable to recycle black plastic. The advice at the moment on delayed collection is to leave your recycling out until 7 p.m. on the day, and to check the website for collection issues and advice.