Improved Refuse - Recycling and Street Cleansing Services - FAQs

Why is this happening?
The service improvements will allow residents to store waste more easily, recycle more and improve the standards of street cleansing in the borough, with the added advantage of being able to recycle food waste for the first time. The new system will enable Enfield to achieve its long term targets for recycling (which are set nationally) and significantly reduce the future cost of disposal caused by large increases in landfill tax.

Will the bins still be collected weekly?
Yes

When is this happening?
The new service for domestic households will not be starting until at least September 2009 and will be phased in over 18 months.

Will it be borough wide?
The new service will be phased in with different areas receiving the new bins at different times.

What day will my collection be?
Every household will be informed well in advance of when they will receive the new bins and any changes to their collections.

What goes in the new bins?
Exactly the same items that we recycle at the moment. In the recycling bin, paper, cardboard, glass bottles and jars, cans and plastic bottles, with the addition of cooked food scraps, such as meat, fish, fruit and vegetables, eggs, pasta, bread, rice and noodles in the garden waste recycling bin.

What size will the new bins be?
The final decision has not been made yet, but provisionally the sizes will vary up to 240Litres.

Will the bins have microchips in them?
No

Will there be fines for not recycling?
No

Will these bins be lined up along the pavement of my street?
No, the bins should be stored within the boundary of the resident’s property.

Do these bins have to be put on the pavement on the day of collection?
No, the bins should be moved to the boundary of the property on the day of collection. However assisted collections will be provided for residents who have difficulty moving bins themselves.

What if I live in a flat or maisonette?
In time the current communal recycling bin system with re-useable blue bags will be rolled out to all remaining blocks of flats where this is not already in place. For flats above shops where a communal bin cannot be located we are looking at alternatives, such as sack based recycling.

What if I live on an estate?
Where there are communal recycling bins for (paper, cardboard, glass bottles and jars, cans, plastic bottles) these will continue. Over the next few months we will be surveying the whole borough, and extending communal recycling bins with blue re-usable bags for blocks currently without this service.

I live in a small terraced house with a very small front garden / no front garden?
Over the next few months we will be carrying out a property survey of the whole borough. Where there are major problems with space we will be looking at alternative arrangements. Only properties with adequate storage will be provided with wheeled bins. Particular attention has been paid to terraced housing and maisonettes, where if storage space is limited alternative services will be provided.

There are only 2 people living in my house, we don’t need such big bins
The service will be able to operate much more efficiently with a standard sized bin; however flexible bin sizes will be available dependant on family size.

I am old/physically disabled and will not be able to move the bins
As soon as the property survey is complete we will look at all special cases individually, and see if alternative arrangements can be made, this will include assisted collections.

I already have an assisted collection, will I still get this?
Yes

If my bin is full will they still take extra rubbish/recycling in open bags?
We have assessed that the volume of the new bins will be sufficient for the average households needs, however flexible bin sizes will be available for larger and smaller families. There may be special circumstances where additional waste arises such as at Christmas, however these will be communicated separately to the main service.

Do I still have to put my waste in a black sack?
You may still put your waste in a sack prior to putting this into your bin, as the cleaning of the bins will be the responsibility of the householder. We recommend you dispel all the air in the bags otherwise it will significantly reduce the capacity of the bin.

Can I mark the bins?
We are working with the manufacturers to allow residents to identify their bins.

This document was last updated on 2008-11-14 14:15:16 published by the Sysadmin team. Document Reference:LBE_133432