Changes to waste and recycling collections in Watford, rolled out by contractor Veolia Environmental Services, have been welcomed by residents Watford borough council has said.
The council reported receiving over 250 tonnes of recyclables from Watford households after the service was rolled out at the beginning of November as part of its seven-year, 35 million contract awarded to Veolia in May this year (see letsrecycle.com story).
This comes after the local authority opted to roll out a commingled collection system to households across the borough, replacing fortnightly collections of recyclable material using three separate containers.
Funding of around 2,570,000 was awarded to Watford borough council under the governments Weekly Waste Collection Fund to support the switch to weekly recycling collections whilst retaining the weekly waste service (see letsrecycle.com story).
Under the changes, residents will no longer be able to mix cardboard with garden and food waste due to changes in national composting standards. Meanwhile, green and food waste will continue to be collected fortnightly while residual, black bag waste will be collected weekly.
Changes
The seven-year deal which began in July, saw the council outsource its waste services for the first time with the aim of saving 730,000 a year on costs. Veolia is responsible for waste and recycling collections, street cleansing and grounds maintenance services within the borough.
A Veolia spokesman told letsrecycle.com that changes to collections, which were yet to be confirmed at the time the contract began, had only just been implemented due to an adjustment period to inform residents of the changes.
He said: While there have been a few teething problems, the operation has now been successfully rolled out and the majority of residents are happy with the new service.
Watfords elected mayor, Dorothy Thornhill MBE, said: Watford residents regularly tell me how pleased they are that we have kept weekly rubbish collections, while other councils moved over to a fortnightly service.
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Last year we were successful in our bid for government funding to enable us to continue to provide this valued service and to help us make our recycling scheme even better. It may take a few weeks to get used to the new scheme but it will be easier for residents.
Matthew Crane, Veolias contract manager in Watford, added: We encourage residents to embrace the new service, recycle as much as possible on a now more regular basis, and help make Watford even greener.
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