Changes to bin collections

Changes to bin collection days for more than 27,000 residents are being introduced in the county.

Following a detailed review the council has developed new ‘optimised’ refuse collection routes to ensure the growing demand for this key front line service is delivered in the most cost effective and efficient way.

The new system will also be kinder to the environment, improve service performance and reliability, and minimise health and safety risks due to a new fleet of cleaner, greener vehicles.

There are currently 157,400 households in the county, and just over 27,000 will be affected by a change to their normal collection day, with the changes being implemented in two phases.

The first phase, coming into effect on the week commencing 22nd October, means a change of day for 2,495 households in the North, Tynedale and Castle Morpeth areas.

The second phase, coming into effect on the week commencing 12th November, requires a change of collection day for 24,662 households – more than 2,000 in the Castle Morpeth area and over 22,000 in the south east of the county.

For all households, even if your collection day has not changed, the time that we come to empty your bins will change – if you don’t put your bin out by 7am on the day of collection, it might not be emptied and we won’t be able to return for it.

There are no changes to garden waste collection dates so garden waste bins should continue to be put out for the remainder of this season. However the collection time may change, so please put your bin out by 7am on the collection day.

Councillor Glen Sanderson, Cabinet member for Environment and Local Services, said: “We are always working to improve the way we deliver our services to residents and these changes are the result of an in-depth review.

“We have a new fleet of cleaner, greener refuse vehicles, and with the number of homes increasing in the county it was necessary to invest in two additional vehicles and staff. This investment will ensure the reliability of this key service and by reviewing the collection routes we are making sure this service is as cost effective and efficient as possible.

“There is no reduction in the frequency bins will be collected, just a change in date for some households, but it’s important everyone has their bin out by 7am on bin day to ensure it gets collected.

“While these changes may cause some initial inconvenience, our residents expect us to run our services as efficiently as possible and these changes are very necessary.”

Every affected household can check if their bin collection days are changing at www.northumberland.gov.uk/bins and if their collection day is changing, we will also send them a new collection calendar and information about these changes in the post.