Recycling update

Since late March, SITA have been distributing bags for cardboard recycling to all those on the waiting list. If you asked for one and haven't got it or would like to ask for one for the first time, please ring 01454 868000 or request one online.

Residents raised a number of concerns when we carried out surveys earlier this year. Officers have investigated complaints of boxes and bags not being put back properly and have answered some of your recycling questions:

• All food waste can be accepted except larged uncooked bones, as these don't break down well in the anaerobic digester.
• Envelopes can go in the paper recycling as long as you remove the plastic windows.
• Pieces of wood of no more than 4" diameter can go in the green waste bin - larger pieces can be recycled at the Sort IT centre.
• Old clothes and shoes can be put out in a carrier bag with the green box.

Bags for cardboard recycling - update

South Gloucestershire Council took down the web page we advised you to check for updates on when more bags for cardboard recycling would be available. We're now told that you can ring 01454 868000 and ask for a bag to be delivered to your home.

More cardboard recycling bags coming!

Despite having insisted there would be no more bags for cardboard recycling, South Glos have caved in to the huge demand and ordered some more.

Over the last few months your Focus Team has been challenging the Tory Cabinet Member responsible to sort out the chaotic distribution of the first 40,000 bags and last week he admitted lessons needed to be learnt. Many people were unaware the bags were ready to collect and where from as the Council didn’t tell them. By the time they found out via the grapevine the bags were gone. Others who did strike lucky were able to walk off with dozens at a time. Trying to find out which distribution points still had bags was nigh on impossible with the website not reflecting the situation on the ground.

We’re now told the new bags will be distributed in the same way as all the other recycling bags. You will be able to call the Council Contact Centre on 01454 868000 to request one and it will be delivered to your house. The Council don’t yet know when the new bags will arrive but they promise that the latest updates will be on their website. Let’s hope this new process works much more smoothly.

Bags for cardboard - out of stock, more promised

South Glos seems to have been taken by surprise by the demand for the bags for cardboard recycling.  According to this page all distribution points are out of stock at the time of writing. There will be a second wave of bags available in mid-September.

Sadly we know some residents didn't even realise the bags were available. Officers say it would be too expensive to notify everyone with a tag on their bin, so people who don't read blogs like this one or the local papers may well have missed out. We know from the surveys we did in the spring and winter that many of you were concerned about the lack of containers for cardboard. Let's hope that when the next batch of bags becomes available everyone who wants one can get one.

Free cardboard recycling bags

To help stop cardboard blowing around our streets, South Gloucestershire Council is providing local residents that want one with a FREE bag for recycling cardboard. 

They will be available from 22 August on a first come, first served basis (one per household) from the following local places:

• Yate Leisure Centre
• Yate Library
• Chipping Sodbury Library
• Yate Town Council (Poole Court)
• Dodington Parish Council (Dodington Parish Hall, Finch Rd)
• Frampton Cotterell Parish Council (Brockeridge Centre)

Other locations are listed on the South Glos cardboard recycling web page

If you have a disability or mobility issue and there is no one else that can collect a bag for you, South Glos may be able to arrange delivery. Please contact 01454 863593 or email waste.management@southglos.gov.uk to talk about your situation.
(Delivery may take up to 10 working days)

Bags for cardboard delayed

Acting on complaints from local people, your Focus Team successively campaigned for better arrangements for cardboard recycling now that cardboard can no longer go in the green bin.

The bags had been expected to be available from collection points around the area in early summer. Unfortunately South Glos tell us that due to a quality issue, this has now slipped until the end of September. We will keep you informed.

Cardboard campaign success

Your Focus Team has been campaigning for an end to the cardboard chaos that has reigned since the new recycling collections were introduced. With cardboard banned from the green bins, residents have been complaining to us about cardboard being blown around the streets on windy days.

Now the Council has announced that they will be providing free recycling bags to store and present cardboard. They will be available to collect from collection points throughout South Gloucestershire, hopefully in the early summer.

Cardboard chaos - let's get it sorted

Dave Hockey, the Lib Dem waste spokesperson, with some loose cardboard recycling

Your Focus team has been pushing for a better way of collecting cardboard for recycling.

When the Council stopped you putting cardboard in your green bin in November, they said at first that cardboard had to be put inside a larger cardboard box or placed under a bin. When people complained, they told those people they could also use their own plastic box or a strong bag, such as a "bag for life". Unfortunately they didn't tell everyone.

Cardboard is very light and blows away easily if it is not secured in some way. On one recent windy collection day, Claire Young and a neighbour ended up chasing someone's cardboard along the street, trying to gather it up and sort out the mess.

Dave Hockey, who led the Lib Dem campaign for plastic bottle and weekly food waste collections, said, “At meeting after meeting, we told the Tory administration that the new arrangements for cardboard were flawed. Local people want to be able to put out their cardboard and know that it won’t end up strewn along their road and in their neighbours’ gardens. This problem needs to be sorted, and quickly. All residents need to be told what is happening, not just those who have complained to the Council.”