Street residents urged to prepare for new Recycle More service as leaflets are delivered

An introduction to a new era in Mendip recycling is about to land on doormats in Street.

Get ready for Recycle More leaflets are being delivered this week, outlining Somerset Waste Partnership's expanded recycling service which launches at the end of October.

And residents across Mendip are being urged to start preparing for the new service, by making sure they have the all the recycling containers they need and getting in touch if they have any questions or concerns.

The service will see more recycling collected from the kerbside each week, including plastic pots, tubs and trays. Households will have a new recycling container - a 'Bright Blue Bag' – delivered before it starts.

Lots more recycling should mean much less rubbish, so rubbish bins or sacks will be collected every three weeks instead of the current two weeks.

This week's leaflets aim to make sure everyone understands what is changing and when. A second leaflet will be delivered three weeks before launch with further details, including a 'What goes where?' recycling guide and an individual collection day calendar.

Making full use of weekly recycling is good for the environment and will help Recycle More work for everyone.

Now is a good time for households to make sure they have all the recycling containers they need.

Everyone can have a green and a black recycling box, plus a food waste bin. New or replacement containers can be ordered for free of charge from the Somerset Waste Partnership (SWP) website or by calling Mendip District Council.

Recycle More means everyone doing things a little differently – keeping new items for recycling and sorting them into different containers. For around a third of households in Mendip it will also mean a change in collection days.

SWP says it is here to help with guidance and support. Anyone with questions or concerns, for example about the new container or three weekly collections, can find more information online at somersetwaste.gov.uk/recycle-more or call Mendip on 0300 3038588.

Mickey Green, SWP managing director, said: "We saw the new service work well in our trials here in Somerset and similar systems are working well for many people in other parts of the UK.

"People want to recycle and we are making it easier for everyone to recycle even more and help protect our environment.

"It's an important change and we are here to help, so get in touch if you have any questions or concerns. We want to make sure Recycle More works for everyone and guidance and support is available."

The new service means the following items added to weekly recycling collections:

• Plastic pots, tubs and trays
• Food and drink cartons
• Small batteries
• Small electrical items

To help make sure everyone understands Recycle More, SWP is running out of hours Facebook Q&A sessions on the following dates:

• Tuesday, September 22, 7am to 8am
• Saturday, October 10, 11am to noon
• Thursday, October 29, 7pm to 8pm

SWP will also be joining the Mendip Talking Café live event on Wednesday, October 14, 11am to noon to chat through the changes and answer questions.

Just visit https://www.facebook.com/talkingcafesomerset and join the conversation 'live' or watch the recorded session later.

Mendip is the only district to getting Recycle More in 2020. It will be introduced to other parts of the county over the following 18 months.