New recycling service comes to Calderdale

New bins and bags will be delivered to households all over Calderdale over the next few weeks: grey wheelie bins, lockable brown bins big and small and white sacks. So what’s it all about and what are they for? Malcolm Akroyd, Waste Manager at Calderdale Council explained.

“We’ve set an ambitious target of recycling 40% of our waste by 2010. With the co-operation of our residents, and the new improved recycling system, we’ll be well on the way to reaching that target. But to do that we need to change the way we’re recycling”



“The new receptacles are all part of our new, improved recycling collection scheme. We’re now delivering them to households across the borough ready for the start of the new scheme on April 20th.”

The new system will include brand new weekly collections for food waste and plastic bottles, in response to public demand, as well as a new wheelie bin for non-recyclable waste at all compatible addresses. Combined with the existing containers, this will now give residents more ways to recycle their waste.

“The most efficient way of collecting recyclable waste is to have it sorted at source before it is collected,” Malcolm said. “The better the quality of the recycled materials, the more we will recycle. That’s good for the environment and it’s good for the Council Tax”.

The new containers will be appearing across the borough in the coming weeks, but don’t use them just yet! From April 20th, the Council will collect from every home every week, but will take different things on each visit.

With no organic waste, no paper, no plastic bottles and no glass, cans or tins, the new grey wheelie bins for non-recyclable waste should last a fortnight, so this will only be collected on alternate weeks. However, to avoid any smells or health hazards, food waste will be collected every week, as will bulky plastic bottles, so they don’t fill up your wheelie bin.

To ensure the new system is a success, the Council and its contractor Sita will be providing lots of information. Every household will receive (in their larger brown food caddy) an information tag which will tell them when their new service starts in their area and on which days to leave out which containers. You can also find out the full details of the new service and the collections in your area at www.recycleforcalderdale.org, by calling the Street Care Helpline on 0845 245 7000, and nearly 40 Roadshows have been organised across the borough until May. Dates and venues are on the website.”

Malcolm concluded: “Look out for your bins, boxes and bags arriving soon, and get ready for a new system of recycling. Of course, delivering all these bins to over 85,000 households is a real task and we know that some people will want to ask questions, particularly about wheelie bins”.

“To do this, just ring up the Street Care Helpline on 0845 245 7000 and they will take a note of your query, which Council Officers will then investigate. Whilst we review your situation, please keep your wheelie bin safe. Your co-operation will be really appreciated while we go through this major change”.