New arrangements for replacement bins

People who have lost their rubbish and recycling bins will be able to pick up a replacement free of charge from Prince Rock depot from Wednesday, with further locations planned for the future.

Arrangements have been made for a stock of bins and bags to be made more easily available for people, ahead of the introduction of a delivery charge for replacing lost bins.

The £15 delivery charge comes in on 1 October and is one of a number of changes being made to household rubbish and recycling collection rounds as part of the Council’s plan to make services better and more efficient.

Plymouth is following in the footsteps of many councils who are charging for delivering replacement bins.

Bags will also be available to pick up from other locations, such as the majority of libraries. Anyone wishing to collect a bin or bag will need to call the Council’s contact centre for a reference number. They will then need to give this number to staff at the relevant locations; bins or bags cannot be given out without the reference number.

Councillor Brian Vincent, Cabinet member for the Environment, said: “Last year we delivered almost 6,000 new bins. In one month 75 per cent of the calls at the contact centre were to replace missing bins – which often turn up later.

“We spent well over a quarter of a million pounds sourcing and delivering replacement bins and we simply cannot go on doing this. We need to be smarter with fewer resources and are asking the public to play their part in this and take more care of their bins by bringing them back on to their property as soon as they are emptied.”

Bin deliveries can be arranged through the contact centre, with payment accepted over the phone. The Council aims to deliver the replacement within a month of the order being placed.

Households receiving assisted collections or free bulky waste collections will not be charged for the delivery of replacement containers. Existing orders for replacement bins will not be affected, and additional resources have been allocated to clear any outstanding requests.

The delivery charge is one of a number of changes on the cards as part of the Council’s transformation programme. In January bin collection days are expected to change for most people in the city as the service gears up for operational start of the new waste disposal plant in Barne Barton.

The Council has specialist software to reroute the rounds, leading to savings on fuel, reduced journey times and running costs.

A campaign to explain the changes will take place in the run-up to Christmas and will also include reminders of do’s and don’ts about where to put bins, what the Council recycles and what the crew will take.