Changes to recycling box collections this week

The Council’s Waste and Recycling crews have been significantly impacted by heightened COVID-19 cases and general staff sickness over the last week – an issue which is affecting a number of organisations across the country.

In order to allow its crews to catch-up on missed collections, the Council has made the difficult decision to suspend recycling box collections on the following days only:

• Tomorrow (1 February)
• Wednesday, 2 February
• Thursday, 3 February
• Friday, 4 February

If households are due to receive their recycling box collections on any of the dates above, they will need to store their recycling until their next collection day. If their recycling boxes are already full, they can use sturdy containers from around their home to put any additional recycling out on their next collection day.

The changes to recycling box collections will not affect black wheelie bin, plastic recycling, food waste, garden waste or clinical waste collections. If a resident receives any of these services, these will continue as normal.

For the remainder of this week, while recycling box collections are suspended, the Council’s recycling crews will be catching-up on any waste and recycling collections that have been missed since Thursday last week (27 January). Any households whose waste has not been collected since last week, should leave it outside their property until the crews collect it.

Councillor Kevin Parry, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Service Delivery, Waste and Transport, said: “I am really sorry that we are having to suspend recycling box collections for some households in the Borough this week.

“This was a really difficult decision and not one that we have taken lightly, but it will allow us to catch-up on any collections that have been missed since last Thursday (27 January) and get us back on an even keel, while also allowing us to prioritise the collection of perishable waste.

“Throughout the pandemic we have, for the most part, been able to continue providing our recycling services uninterrupted. However, with the rise in coronavirus cases across the Borough, a number of our staff are unfortunately having to self-isolate with COVID-19.

“This continues to be a live situation and we will share any further updates as and when we have them. Please keep checking the Council’s Facebook page and webpages for the latest information.”

Residents are reminded that if they have large amounts of waste and recycling that they want to dispose of, they can book a slot at the Household Waste Recycling Centre on the Council’s website: www.swindon.gov.uk/hwrc