In a bid to increase recycling rates and become more efficient, South Hams District Council are currently tweaking their recycling and refuse collections across the district to provide a more cost effective service.
The Council are looking to increase recycling rates and make waste and recycling collections much more cost effective for customers and sending less waste for disposal. This includes reviewing how waste collections could be changed to enable more of their residents to recycle.
For some residents, who are currently provided with black sacks, this might mean that they are supplied with bins instead, with their waste being collected fortnightly in the same pattern as most other households in the South Hams. Or, it may result in a fortnightly black sack collection, with an increased weekly recycling collection that includes food waste. For others, it could mean their collection day might change, but for the vast majority of residents, there is likely to be no change at all at this current time.
Cllr Rufus Gilbert, Executive Portfolio Holder for Commercial Services, said: “It is very important that we become increasingly efficient with our recycling and refuse services. This review will help to reduce costs, while still maintaining a quality recycling service for our customers.”
In the future, the possibility of collecting waste and recycling on a four day schedule between Tuesday and Friday, would mean that residents would not have their collections interrupted by bank holidays. The Council are considering the feasibility of this idea at the moment and will let residents know as soon as any decision has been made.
Minor changes to the service are due to begin after Easter, and the relatively small numbers of households who are affected will receive information in advance of the changes.
