Bristol's new kerbside waste and recycling services, which include a new mixed plastics collection for all residents, have now been rolled out to all households in the city.

By the end of July, all households should have received their new green recycling box for mixed plastics collections and had their old wheelie bin replaced with a slightly smaller one. Many households also saw collection day changes at the start of the contract last November, as part of new contractor May Gurney's strategy to streamline the service and make it more cost efficient.

Cabinet member for strategic waste, Cllr Gary Hopkins, said: "Changing the waste and recycling services for the entire city was a mammoth undertaking and we want to firstly thank residents for their patience throughout the last nine months. There have been minor issues along the way, with some residents experiencing missed collections and a few delays with bin deliveries, which we would obviously like to have avoided. However, these were not unexpected considering the size of the contract and the fact it was a new contractor, and overall, the roll out has gone well.


"The new services offer a better provision for residents, with one of the most comprehensive recycling services in the country, helping to reduce the amount of waste we are throwing away and driving up our recycling rate even further. At the same time, the contract will save us £2.5 million a year compared to our previous waste contract."

Alongside Bristol's other new waste contracts, the new services are already helping to deliver improvements to Bristol’s recycling and landfill figures. From April to June this year, the city’s recycling rate was at 50%, compared to 39% for April-June 2011 and 12% in 2004. The landfill rate for this period was 27%, compared to 60.5% for the same period last year and 88% in 2004.

(CD/GK)