Largest change to bin collection rounds in a decade to help tackle climate emergency

Largest change to bin collection rounds in a decade to help tackle climate emergency

Domestic recycling and waste collection rounds in Oxford have remained the same for the last 10 years, but during this time the quantity and quality of materials collected have changed dramatically.

Oxford City Council and ODS are now planning to adjust some of the collection routes and times to take account of the changes and improve the service. The changes will take effect from 4 April.

Reducing vehicle emissions

Collections across the city have for some time been split between blue and red zones. However changes over the past decade in volumes of recycling, new housing additions and even traffic patterns have resulted in one week with a large collection round and staff having to work extra hours, while the other week there is a light collection round which typically takes less time to complete. ODS is planning to rebalance collection rounds to level out the split of waste across the two week collection period. This means a number of collection routes are being changed, not only to improve the service and reduce the effect on the environment from vehicle emissions, but also, with an eye to the future, to take account of our growing city. That means a number of the collection days for particular streets will change.

Residents should continue to place their bin out as per the normal arrangements on their new collection day – after 6pm the evening before collection or by 7am on their new collection day, where the pavement meets the public highway.

While the changes will apply to all types of collections, the overall collection schedules will remain the same: food recycling will be collected weekly, rubbish and mixed recycling will be collected fortnightly, and garden waste will be collected fortnightly for those subscribed to this service.

This change will affect around 35,000 households - around a half of properties in the city. The City Council is writing to all residents to tell them of the change as well as attaching information tags to all bins.

A new collection calendar will be delivered with council tax bills in March. Residents will also soon be able use the new GovDelivery collection day email reminder service, which is planned to launch in April.

You can find out more by visiting: www.oxford.gov.uk/collectiondaychanges.

Councillor Lubna Arshad, Cabinet Member for Parks and Waste Reduction, said:

“We are constantly looking at ways to improve the service and given the changes in the amount and type of waste that we collect it makes sense that we now bring about this change."

“Residents in the affected areas can check on our website to find out if their collection day has changed. We want to make sure that this change is brought in with as little disruption as possible and that residents don’t miss having their bin emptied."