Letters go out to East Devon residents detailing new recycling service

Cardboard, plastics, cartons and small electrical items added to weekly recycling collections and grey wheeled waste bins to be collected every three weeks

Key information is being sent out next week (w/b April 24) to around 51,000 homes in East Devon giving details of a new improved recycling collection service which is being introduced by East Devon District Council from Monday June 12.

The new service, which has already started in Exmouth, is being rolled out to the rest of the district and it means that all residents will be able to recycle more items than ever before. The council has added cardboard, plastics, cartons/Tetrapaks and small electrical items to the extensive list that residents can already recycle every week. As householders will be able to recycle more and throw away less bulky rubbish, grey wheeled waste bins will be collected every three weeks.

Almost 17,000 households in Exmouth started to use the new service in mid-February, and within the first six weeks  residents were recycling almost 60% of their waste – an increase of 15%.

Letters are being sent out this week to all households in the rest of East Devon, giving information about the start date of the new service, collection days for weekly recycling and food waste along with dates for waste collections. Next month (May) further information will be sent out to participating households.

Residents have been asking the council, through surveys, to help them recycle more and waste less for some time and in 2015 more than 1,300 households in two East Devon areas trialed the new service. The trials in Exmouth (The Colony) and new Feniton, proved so successful, that residents asked for the service to continue.

Most households will be given an additional 75 litre reusable sturdy sack with a Velcro seal in which to collect their extra recyclables. These will be delivered by the council’s contractors SUEZ in May/June. Some properties, such as flats, may receive an additional recycling box instead of a sack, where storage is a problem.

Cllr Paul Diviani, Leader of East Devon District Council, said: “We are delighted with how well the service is operating in Exmouth and it’s now the right time for the rest of our residents in the district to be able to recycle more items.

“The council is determined to offer residents a more sustainable method of recycling and waste collection that benefits the environment, helps our residents do the right thing by recycling more and is financially sustainable.”

The council has been holding an extensive public awareness campaign to promote the changes and hundreds of residents have been learning more about the new service at a series of information days. These events are a great opportunity to find out about what you can recycle and recycling officers will be holding the days on Friday April 28 at Honiton Tesco from 10am to 2pm, Wednesday May 3 at Seaton Library from 9.30am to 12.30pm, Feniton on Wednesday May 10 and Budleigh Salterton Library on Thursday May 11 from 9.30am to 12.30pm. Further events are also being organised.

A series of posters and banners have appeared across the district, in halls and shops, the libraries and schools, inviting residents to ‘Watch this Space’ and learn more about the extra items they can recycle when the great new service is introduced.

Cllr Diviani added: “We are here to help our residents through these changes and we will have a dedicated team of officers who will be out on the streets of our district giving advice and assisting wherever they can when the service begins.”

Further information about the new service is available on the council’s website – www.eastdevon.gov.uk/onboard and includes a full list of what residents will be able to recycle. You can also follow the council’s social media service on Facebook at East Devon District Council and @eastdevon on twitter.

If you want to be kept fully up-to-date about your new collections, download the council’s really useful smart phone app which will send you reminders about your collection days tailored to your own address. The East Devon mobile app is free and is available to download from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.

If you need assistance or advice about the new service, please contact us on 01395 571515.