Swindon Borough Council is calling on residents to keep up their recycling efforts during the festive season to contribute to the Borough’s recycling rate.
Since the introduction of the borough-wide food waste collection service, local residents have already recycled approximately 450 tonnes of food waste. With Christmas now underway, Swindonians can put their turkey carcasses and unwanted sprouts in their food waste caddy instead of disposing of them as general waste.
To support the Council’s crews during the busiest time of the year, the residents are reminded to ensure their recycling is placed in the correct containers and to be mindful of any additional waste. They are also encouraged to squash down plastic and metal recycling to maximize space in the weighted recycling bags. Excess recyclables should be placed in another sturdy container to facilitate collection.
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Excess cardboard can be bundled and tied together for collection, and residents can book a slot on the Council’s website to take additional food waste recycling to the Household Waste Recycling Centre. The Waste Wizard tool on the Council website can be used to find out how to dispose of other items.
Residents are also encouraged to minimize waste by purchasing gifts with minimal packaging and planning their food shopping carefully. The Council will not conduct waste and recycling collections on December 25th or 26th, with collections resuming on December 27th in stages.
The garden waste collection service will be temporarily suspended from December 25th, 2023 until January 5th, 2024. Additionally, the Council will only collect real Christmas trees from its garden waste subscribers, while other households can take their trees to the Household Waste Recycling Centre by booking a slot. Alternatively, trees can be recycled for a donation to Prospect Hospice on specific dates in January 2024.
Councillor Chris Watts, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, emphasized the importance of supporting the waste and recycling service during this busy period and thanked residents for their cooperation.