FROM Monday 2 March, bin collection days in Waltham Forest will change as the council’s new neighbourhood services contract provider, Urbaser, introduces a new and improved waste and recycling collection service.
Residents will be able to recycle more than ever as collections are expanded to include small electrical items (WEEE), clothing, pairs of shoes and household batteries. Batteries left for collection will be recycled. Clothing and small electrical items will be made available for reuse if in a good enough condition. If they are unsuitable to be reused, they will also be recycled.
More than 75% of households will have a new bin collection day. Rubbish and recycling will still be picked up every week, with garden and food waste continuing to be collected every two weeks for most of the borough.
To facilitate the new service Urbaser is installing a fleet of new fit for purpose vehicles, which include electric street sweepers, electric supervisor vans, a fully electric refuse truck for Walthamstow market and new fleet of Euro 6 low-emission refuse trucks to improve air quality and reduce environmental impact.
Javier Peiro, managing director at Urbaser Ltd, said: “The changes to collection days are being introduced as a result of intensive analysis of the collection rounds in the Borough. The new routes and new vehicles will make the service more efficient and more effective, as well as enable a wider range of recyclable items to be collected. We hope residents enjoy the new kerbside collection service, which will reduce waste, encourage re-use and increase recycling.”
Bin collection crews will also work over a longer day, from 5am until 10pm, ensuring better value for money for Waltham Forest residents.
Urbaser has been working with the borough since 2013 carrying out street cleansing and grounds maintenance services, and took over the waste and recycling collection services from the previous neighbourhood services provider, Kier, in October 2019.
Councillor Clyde Loakes, deputy leader for Watham Forest Council and Cabinet Member for the Environment, said: “Waltham Forest is proud to be a frontrunner among local authorities when it comes to environmental issues, and that includes our recycling offer. Through our new Neighbourhood Services contract with Urbaser residents in Waltham Forest can now recycle more than 85% of the household waste they produce on their doorstep, and by continuing to collect recycling weekly we make sure there is always space in the green bin for that recycling.
“It’s fantastic that we’ve been able to work with Urbaser to deliver even better value for money to our residents through the new contract, both by expanding our recycling offer and making the routes our collection crews travel more efficient than under the previous contractor.”
All of the changes made as a result of the contract with Urbaser are in support of the council’s declaration of a Climate Emergency in 2019. Reuse and recycling saves energy, costs less than other means of waste disposal, and reduces the borough’s negative contributions to climate change. By making reuse and recycling more accessible to residents and expanding the items that can be reused and recycled, the council can take a significant step towards improving its impact on the global environment.