Wheelie Bin Collection To Go Fortnightly This Summer

As Hounslow Council imposes a recycling target of 50% across the borough

Hounslow Council has announced that wheelie bins, which contain rubbish that is not recycled, will be collected fortnightly instead of weekly from this summer.

The Council has sent letters to residents across the borough announcing that it has a recycling target of 50% waste to achieve by 2019 and it is sending out more recycling boxes to households - the recycling and food waste refuse will continue to be collected weekly.

From June people will have new Red and Blue collection boxes, the red for plastics and cans, the blue for paper and card, and the current green box for glass bottles and jars. Food waste biodegradable bags will also be delivered to be put into the current green food waste caddy .

The wheelie bin collection will go fortnightly from 10 July. Garden waste has already become a charge-for service since 2016. Hounslow Council originally intended this new service to start last year.

The Council said then that the changes were part of a drive to cut the amount of waste being sent to landfill and help residents to recycle at least half of their rubbish by 2020. After this date, the Mayor of London will impose hefty fines on local authorities that fail to meet this target.

Currently residents in Hounslow only recycle 35 per cent of their rubbish – one of the lowest rates in London.

"Sending household waste to landfill is not only hazardous to the environment but expensive too, costing around £120 per tonne to process compared with just £20 a tonne for recycling, according to the Council which says that money could be spend on other services..

"If all households recycled at least 50 per cent of their rubbish over the next four years 15,000 tonnes of waste would be recycled per year and not landfilled, saving up to £1.35million.

"Moving from weekly to fortnightly collections for non-recyclable waste will also save money by cutting the number of refuse trucks required and the number of journeys collection crews need to make."

You can join the discussion on our forum where it seems local residents are not very enthusiastic about the new system.

May 2, 2017