Happy 1st Birthday to our new improved recycling service!

On 20th April, 2009 we introduced Calderdale's new improved recycling service, with new collections for food and plastic bottles; new containers - wheelie bins  wherever they were appropriate, and new rounds with Week A and B collections of Recycling and Refuse! But how well have we done in the year in between, and what do you think about the new service?

We are pleased to announce that, despite some inevitable difficulties with such major changes, the new service launch has been a resounding success! We are now recycling over 40% of our household waste compared with 25% before the new service launch.

Further still, recycling tonnage from our household collections is up 139%, Household Waste Recycling Centre tonnage up 20% and non-recyclable waste has gone down 30%. As a result the Council's landfill tax payments have reduced by nearly 10%.

At Christmas we invited Calderdale residents to give us their views on the new service by participating in the Recycle for Calderdale online competition; and over 10,000 of you took part! The results were overwhelmingly positive: 89% of you said that you were either very satisfied (45%) or satisfied (44%) with the new service. By contrast, just 4% said that they were dissatisfied (3%) or very dissatisfied (1%).

But that's no grounds for complacency; you want to recycle more! From the individual comments made, the largest number were requests for additional recycling materials to be collected: cardboard, other types of plastic and green waste. The Council is now considering those suggestions.

So that really is a Happy 1st Birthday!

To help us recycle more we've got our very own Bin Doctor to give us some helpful recycling advice! Look out for the Bin Doctor in future editions of Calderdale Call for more handy tips!

	Food waste caddies – 3 bags per week Nationally most households make a food caddie liner last on average 2-3 days, only using around 3 bags per week. Please help us reduce food bag usage by making sure they're full before putting them in the outside caddy.
	Just one wheelie bin OR 5 black bags By recycling as much as possible there should be far less refuse left over for your fortnightly collection. Please help us by keeping within your allocation of one wheelie bin load with the lid shut (or 5 black bin liners for those properties without a wheelie bin) per collection. If you believe your allocation of bins/bags is not sufficient, call Street Care Helpline on 0845 245 7000 and we will be happy to advise.
	Leave out the right waste on the right days There are weekly collections of food waste and plastic bottles, and fortnightly collections of glass, cans, paper, textiles and refuse. To find out what to leave out on which days, check your collection calendar, use the postcode look-up on the website or call Street Care Helpline on 0845 245 7000. Please take extra care to check your calendar at bank holiday times as the collection days are different.