Recycling from kerbside exceeds expectations

Initial evidence from Ubico Ltd shows a 25 per cent increase in the tonnage of recycling and food waste being collected from kerbside, which has far exceeded the expectations. This speaks volumes and shows how important recycling is to the residents of Cheltenham.

This vast increase in kerbside recycling has however had an impact on the collection capacity. Although new vehicles have been purchased and routes redesigned, in some areas residents may have experienced delays or missed collections and it is regrettable that this has happened.

The work to address these concerns continues with utmost importance and the dedicated teams will continue to make adjustments to improve the service. A project of this scale which reaches across the whole borough will take some time to settle as new routines bed in. The council and Ubico apologise to any customers who have experienced difficulties during this transition period and thank them for recycling and striving to make Cheltenham as green as it can be.

While crews adjust to dealing with this significant increase in recyclables and they continue to familiarise themselves with the new routes, Ubico are in the process of providing the necessary resources to address the highlighted issues. If a collection has been missed, crews will return the following day so residents are advised to keep their bins, boxes, blue bags and caddies out. 

Tim Atkins, the council’s managing director for place and economic development who is now over-seeing the project, says: “The increase in recycling is truly impressive. Residents now recycle far more than ever before and since the new service went live, we have seen a firm increase in the amount of items being diverted from landfill.

“This is great news and means that Cheltenham is contributing significantly to Gloucestershire’s recycling targets. We appreciate that some people have been inconvenienced and residents should be assured that we are doing all we can to offer a high quality, improved service.’’

Evidence from other recycling projects, shows that initial peaks, such as this, may reduce as time goes on, however, we encourage all residents to reverse this trend and keep recycling as much as possible.

To assist in making the collection of your recyclable material more efficient, residents are asked to where possible to speed up the time crews are spending in residential areas by separating recyclables. Mixed plastics, tins, cans and aerosols can go in to one box and paper and glass in another, with all cardboard in the blue bag. Household batteries, small electricals and dry, clean textiles and shoes can also be bagged and popped inside the boxes.

The crews can work much faster if recyclables are separated, as advised.

Visit www.cheltenham.gov.uk/recycling to find out more.