An initial plan to re-allocate funds within South Ayrshire Council’s Waste Management Section by not sending out household waste collection date calendars this year to every household in the Council’s area has been “binned” – after Councillors stepped in!

In order to help ensure that residents of South Ayrshire are kept fully aware of collection dates – and help maintain the fine record of achievement in the Council’s recycling and waste management targets – the decision has been taken to provide calendars in the same way as in previous years.

Calendars are now being printed and will be sent out to all 53,000 households in the next few weeks. These calendars will also now provide details of collection cycles through to the end of the next local authority year, in March 2008.

Explained Councillor Alistair Kerr, Convener of the Council Commercial and Business Services Committee: “While an operational decision not to produce and send out fresh calendars for 2007 may have seemed an admirable attempt to redirect resources into front line services at a time when the Council is also required to make budget savings, the issue was not brought before committee for consideration by elected members.

“Once it became known to Councillors that the calendar was not being sent out, we asked for this decision to be reviewed and we are delighted that the calendar is now to be issued.

“Waste collection affects every household. There is a real need to avoid any possible mix-up about collection dates, and calendars will now be printed and sent out.

“Although the fortnightly cycle continues in 2007 for everyone in South Ayrshire on exactly the same basis as the cycle that was undertaken in 2006, it will be worthwhile issuing calendars for 2007/08 to ensure there can be no confusion amongst our residents as to when the various collections take place.”

South Ayrshire Council continues to work towards achieving recycling and waste management targets with easy to use kerbside recycling services for household waste.

Waste services include:

• Fortnightly collection of glass
• Separate collections for paper, cardboard, plastic bottles and cans.
• Separate collections for garden waste.

The Council believes that an ‘alternate weekly’ collection system encourages householders to participate in recycling and composting and achieves the maximum segregation of wastes at source, not entailing excessive costs.

The frequency of collection - shown below - is explained further within the Waste Management and Recycling section of the Council’s Website:

www.south-ayrshire.gov.uk/wastemanagement/3binsystem.htm

Week 1 General refuse Green bin
Week 2 Organic garden waste Brown bin and black box
Week 3 General refuse Green bin
Week 4 Dry recyclables Blue bin and black box

In advance of the calendars being printed and sent out, information regarding bin collection and recycling week for individual properties can also be found on – and downloaded from - the Council’s website, or by phoning the Council’s Customer Services on 0845 601 2020 (email: cst@south-ayrshire.gov.uk).

Recycling note:

The glass and mixed collections of paper, cardboard, plastic bottles and cans are sent to a recycling plant and recycled.

The garden waste is sent to a composting plant and processed into compost for use as a soil conditioner.

January 2007