New Recycling And Waste Collection Service

Dover District Council is making sure it gets the message across when it comes to telling residents about their new recycling and waste service - with special four page leaflets being delivered to homes across the district from next week.

The new service will be phased in across the district, starting in September. Residents will be able to recycle even more plastic, and will be able to put all their food waste out for weekly collection. The service will include the use of wheeled bins, wherever possible, for the collection of a greater range of recyclables, and for the fortnightly collection of the waste you have not been able to recycle.

The Council is able to offer the new service thanks to a ground-breaking partnership with Shepway District Council and Kent County Council, which is projected to save the partnership around £4m a year.

Roger Walton, DDC Director of Environment and Corporate Assets said: "The service has been shaped by what local people have told us. Now our job is to make sure that we tell residents how and when the service will change, and we have an externally-funded communications campaign to help us tell people all about it."

The council is using various methods of keeping residents informed, including leaflets to all homes, radio, newspaper and bus stop advertising, road shows, service guides delivered with new bins and containers, a team of advisors who will call on homes to explain the new service, and regular updates on the DDC website.

Cllr Nicholas Kenton, DDC Cabinet Member for Environment, Waste and Planning said: "We look forward to rolling out the new collections, and we would like to assure people that they will receive full information well before the new service starts. These important changes mean we will be able to recycle significantly more, save resources, and work together even more effectively to protect the environment for the future."

The new service will be rolled out on a round-by-round basis. Alternative collection methods will be used for homes that cannot have wheeled bins.