Changes to recycling and garden waste collections

Recycling and garden waste that would have been collected on 19 September and garden waste that would have been collected on 20 September will not be collected due to the Bank Holiday for the Queen’s Funeral.

In response to queries from residents, Cllr Stephen Fenton asked the council’s Waste team about whether additional waste will be collected that is presented on 3rd & 4th October and whether consideration was given to arranging ‘catch-up’ collections. The response received is copied below.

“The arrangements around the State Funeral have had an impact on waste operations. The service’s priority was to ensure that we could collect as much waste as possible and therefore a number of options were considered.

Our priority has to be that all household waste [black bins] are collected as we have a statutory duty to collect such waste. To ensure that we can recover all household waste it has meant we have had to take the tough decision to stand garden waste collections down on Tuesday 20th September and not collect garden waste or recycling which was scheduled to be collected on 19th September. The garden waste collection service started earlier this year and does run until 2nd December (last day of collection) so there are still ample opportunities for residents to dispose of their garden waste through the kerbside service.

Additional recycling can be presented on Monday 3rd October and our crews will take any additional material presented. On Monday 3rd and indeed on Tuesday 4th October (garden waste), we will ensure that all additional material is collected and will look at having pro-active support in place to ensure that all rounds complete and recover any additional materials presented.

One of the options we did consider was moving all waste collections in the week beginning 19th September back one day and working on Saturday 24th September (e.g. to collect Monday’s waste on Tuesday, Tuesday’s waste on Wednesday etc). Discussions were held with the workforce but (i) they are not contractually obliged to work on that Saturday and (ii) with the short notice of the bank holiday a number of staff already had plans/commitments and indicated they would not be able to work. Therefore, we would have struggled to get enough staff into work on Saturday 24th September and therefore, there would have been the very real probability that we would have not been able to deliver household waste collections on that day let alone any garden waste or recycling collections.

For information, on the five ‘standard’ bank holidays, waste collection staff are contracted to work on these days (but this does not cover one off or unique events such as the state funeral). We also considered options for collecting more waste in the following week but we do not have a whole fleet of ‘spare’ vehicles or indeed staff and we could never catch up that level of collections.”

Recycling banks overflow

Cllr Stephen Fenton has reported the tetrapak and bottle banks at Askham Bar Tesco that are overflowing. The responses received are summarised below.

Bottle banks

GRUK, the company which empties these banks, reported difficulties with their vehicles on Tuesday 6th April and are not able to collect until Monday 12th.

As an interim measure, Yorwaste have provided some wheeled bins, labelled appropriately, so that there is at least some provision for glass recycling before GRUK return.

Tetrapak bank

ACE, the company who empty the carton bank, are having difficulty with their vehicles and are not able to collect until the week commencing 12th April. Some stickers have been placed on the bank in the hope of dissuading residents from leaving cartons on site.

Cardboard banks

The second cardboard bank has returned after having to be repainted following an arson attack. The banks continue to fill up quickly, not helped by some residents who don’t bother to flatten boxes before putting them in the bank.

Changes to recycling collections

City of York Council is introducing temporary changes to the recycling process in order to protect its vital frontline staff and allow for additional social distancing measures during the pandemic

Residents are still required to leave recycling boxes at the kerbside and continue to separate materials in their boxes as normal. Collection days will also remain unchanged.

Waste crews will now be working in smaller teams to ensure that they can maintain a safe distance during working hours to protect themselves from infection.

Residents should be aware of the following changes to recycling collections, which include:

  • recycling will be split into two vehicles
  • a vehicle will collect plastic, tins and glass.  Some mixing on the vehicle may take place
  • another vehicle will collect paper and cardboard
  • residents may experience two separate collections of recycling on the same day as the two vehicles may not arrive at the same time
  • in some instances, this may take a number of hours
  • as some mixing on the plastic, tins and glass vehicle will take place, the council will accept mixed plastic, tins and glass, but cardboard and paper must be separated
  • the council encourages residents to put out their recycling as normal, for 7am.

Cllr Paula Widdowson, Executive Member for Environment and Climate Change, said: “Our waste crews are providing a vital service during the Coronavirus pandemic to every household in York. We have to take these additional measures to protect them as much as we can. By pausing the start of garden waste collections, we now have more staff to focus on collecting recycling and household waste.

“You won’t see any changes other than your recycling may be collected at different times, with some limited mixing of glass, plastic and tin.  It is important to highlight that some residents may have two separate collections of recycling on the same day and in some instances, this may take a number of hours between collections.

“Where mixing of glass, plastic and tin happens, we can assure residents that this will be separated after collection and recycled. We will seek to recover any additional costs of doing this from the government.” 

The council announced last week that it would be postponing the start of garden waste collections, due to start this month, in order to ensure household waste and recycling collections were given priority.

These steps are being taken because of extraordinary pressures on frontline services during the outbreak of Coronavirus and a significantly reduced workforce.  This decision has freed up more frontline crews and vehicles to focus on collecting recycling and household waste in a safe way for frontline staff. 

The situation with garden waste collections will be kept under constant review, with an intention to resume garden waste collections as soon as practically possible.  The council is encouraging residents to compost their garden waste at home, and to support residents in this effort, advice and tips for easy composting at home is available at www.york.gov.uk.composting

Action to tackle Askham Bar flytipping

Local Lib Dem councillor Stephen Fenton is leading efforts to tackle flytipping at the recycling banks at the Askham Bar Tesco car park.

There are persistent problems with household waste being dumped here, and there is an accumulation of litter around the recycling banks. The popularity of the clothes and shoes recycling banks has also led to bags of donations being dumped next to the full bins.

Dumping at Yorkshire Air Ambulance clothing banks

Household waste flytipped

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On 20 August Stephen arranged a meeting on site with representatives from Yorwaste, City of York Council and Tesco to discuss the problems and what can be done to improve the situation. Actions arising from the meeting included checking on the frequency of emptying recycling banks which are sometimes overflowing, and exploring options for more proactive enforcement to increase the chances of catching flytippers.

It was noted that the return of the second cardboard bank has helped to improve matters in recent weeks.

Stephen commented  “There are many parties involved in the maintenance and management of this site – for example, a range of different companies are responsible for emptying the variety of banks. It was good to get some of the key players together to discuss the problems and try to come up with a plan.

“It’s important that when flytipping is spotted, the council’s Neighbourhood Enforcement Team is notified via neo@york.gov.uk or tel. 01904 551555. They can then look for evidence which will help to identify the cuplrit.”

Stephen has made contact with two of the companies responsible for emptying the donation banks for Yorkshire Air Ambulance (clothes) and Variety Club (shoes) following a build-up of donations piled up against the bins.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The response from both firms was positive. SOEX UK Ltd, which manages the shoe bank, confirmed that it will take steps to ensure that it is emptied every Tuesday. Bag It Up Ltd, which manages the clothes bank, stated that they are looking into these issues and tweaking schedules to get on top of any sites that have overflow issues.

Stephen said “I’m pleased with the quick response from the firms that look after the clothing and shoe banks, and their commitment to action. If any residents want to donate but find that the banks are full, please take the bags home and do not dump them next to the bins.”

Recycling advice over Christmas period

City of York Council’s Recycling Team is helping residents to have a ‘green’ Christmas this year by providing festive dos and don’ts to make it even easier to recycle and re-use Christmas waste.

Greetings cards, wrapping paper and crackers are just some of the items that can be recycled through the council’s household waste and recycling collections.

Councillor Andrew Waller, executive member for environment, said: “Christmas is a time of great joy and celebration for most people, but it’s also a time when we create lots of extra waste.

“Just giving a bit of ‘One Planet’ thought to how we can recycle, re-use and compost Christmas waste can make a huge difference to the amount we throw away.

“Re-using items such as wrapping paper and gift bags can also be a great way to help keep costs down next Christmas.”

Festive ‘dos’ to recycle include:

  • Greetings cards
  • Wrapping paper (non foil)
  • Cardboard
  • Crackers (remove all the embellishments, such as bows, first)
  • Bottles
  • Tins

Real Christmas trees and wreaths (with tinsel and decorations removed) can be recycled at Hazel Court or Towthorpe Waste Household Recycling Centres. Lots of food waste can be composted and re-used in the garden. Visit www.getcomposting.com for more information.

Festive don’ts to recycle:

  • Heavily glittered items
  • Tinsel
  • Foil wrapping paper
  • Plastic Christmas trees and wreaths

For some tasty recipes on using up festive leftovers and hints on how to reduce food waste visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com

Residents can check their recycling collection days using:

the  calendar which the council distributed to households across the city in October and November

online at www.york.gov.uk/refuselookup

get free alerts to smartphones or tablets by downloading the OnePlanetYork app from itunes or google playstore.

The city’s household waste centres are open every day except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s day (with Towthorpe also closed on Wednesdays).  To check what can go in your recycling boxes, visit www.york.gov.uk/waste

For more information on festive waste and recycling visit www.york.gov.uk/festivereycling

Extra waste collections over the Christmas period

All households will get extra household waste collections (grey bins/black sacks) during weeks commencing 18 December 2017 and 2 January 2018… Put your waste out by 7.00am for collection! click  CHECK YOUR COLLECTION DAY/DATES: WWW.YORK.GOV.UK/REFUSELOOKUP

New waste and recycling collection calendar on its way

City of York Council is encouraging residents to look out for their new waste and recycling calendar for 2015/16, which will be hitting doormats soon.

New calendar out soon

New calendar out soon

From this week households across the city will start to receive their new calendar which outlines when collections are taking place between November 2015 and October 2016, including collections over the Christmas and New Year period.

The council announced earlier this year that residents are set to benefit from two additional garden waste collections this autumn, at the end of the current collection season, as well as improved recycling collections over Christmas.

This will ensure that the maximum time residents will wait for their recycling collection is three weeks, instead of four weeks. The extra garden waste collections will give residents an opportunity to dispose of autumn green waste before winter sets in.

The new calendars also provide tips and advice on what items can and can’t be recycled including paper/cardboard, glass, plastic bottles, cans/tins and if applicable garden waste.

Cllr Andrew Waller, Executive Member for Environmental Services, said: “We are pleased to be improving recycling collections for residents over Christmas as they have asked us to help them to recycle more of their waste. By working together we can reduce the cost to the council of Landfill Tax and to help us become the Greenest City in the North.  We encourage residents to look out for their new collection calendars which will be hitting doormats soon and to let us know if they have not been received by the end of October.”

Flats, rural properties and also city centre properties serviced by St Nicks recycling team will receive collection information in December. For any queries about the St Nicks recycling service in the city centre please go to http://www.stnicks.org.uk/ or telephone 01904 411821.

Residents are asked to ensure their bins or boxes are presented by 7am on the day of their collection, but no earlier than 7pm the evening before.

Residents can find their additional collection dates on the new calendar and also online.

Look up collections at www.york.gov.uk/refuselookup . Households which have not received their calendar by the end of October can contact the council on 01904 551551 ycc@york.gov.uk for a replacement copy.

Find out more about waste and recycling in York by following @CYCWaste on Twitter or ‘like’ CYCWaste on Facebook.