Views sought on extended recycling trials
Households taking part in East Devon District Council’s recycling trials in new Feniton and Exmouth (The Colony) will soon be receiving a questionnaire to find out how the new service is working for them.
From mid-September, residents in these two areas have been using an improved service and have been able to collect cardboard and mixed plastics for the first time. These items, along with their usual extensive number of other recyclables including glass, metals, paper, plastic bottles, textiles and food waste, are collected from the kerbside every week.
As households in the trial areas are recycling more, they are throwing away less rubbish in their grey wheeled bin which is now being collected every three weeks instead of every two weeks.
So far the initial collections have seen a big increase in recycling in the two areas. In the first week of trial collections, Exmouth (The Colony) residents collected almost 60% more recycling while households in new Feniton recycled almost 80% more.
East Devon residents have been asking the council to help them recycle more through its Viewpoint surveys and the council is keen to protect the district’s outstanding environment. The trials will also help the council prepare for the appointment of a recycling and waste contractor next year.
Feedback from the questionnaire and information from the trial will help the council make a decision on any future changes to the current recycling and waste service.
Cllr Iain Chubb, the council’s portfolio holder for the Environment, appealed to residents in the trial to have their say and complete the questionnaire.
He said: “The initial results of the trials have been really exciting and we’re grateful to everyone who is going that extra mile, taking part and getting onboard. We need to know how it’s working for our residents and the short questionnaire will really help us develop the service further.”
The questionnaire will be sent out later this month and households have until Monday November 30 to complete and return it to the council.
Information on the trials is available on the council’s website – eastdevon.gov.uk – and includes a list of frequently asked questions, and top tips on how to recycle effectively.
For residents who need assistance, the council’s recycling team can be contacted on 01395 571515 or email csc@eastdevon.gov.uk. You can follow East Devon District Council on social media through twitter @eastdevon or facebook /eastdevon
The council also has a really useful smart phone app which will send reminders about recycling and waste collection days tailored to your own address. The East Devon mobile app is free and is available to download for iphone users from the Apple App Store and for Android smart phone users from the Google Play Store.
