Domestic Refuse and Recycling Collection Policies

This policy sets out how the Council operates the refuse and recycling collection service across the Borough and provides information to residents on how, where and when their refuse and recycling should be presented.

Presentation of refuse and recycling bins

Refuse and recyling bins must be presented at the kerbside by 7.30am and taken back within the property boundary the same day of collection.

Frequency of collection

The Council will collect household refuse and segregated household recyclables on an alternate weekly basis with refuse one week and recycling the following week.

The collection day will be the same day of the week for refuse and for recycling.

During Bank Holiday weeks, collections may be made a day later. For example, if the normal collection day is a Friday, then the collection may be made on a Saturday instead. The Council have the right to make exceptions to this rule i.e. during the Christmas period, where collection dates will be advertised to householders.

The Council will advise of collection arrangements throughout the year and over bank holiday periods.

Detail of collection arrangements will always be made available on the Council’s website at www.southtyneside.gov.uk and may also be presented in other formats.

Missed collections

Refuse and recycling bins are to be presented for collection by 7.30am on the designated day of collection.

If bins are not presented prior to arrival on the day of collection, bins reported as missed will not be considered a ‘missed’ collection. Responsibility for disposal of the waste will then become that of the householder, the Council will not return to empty the bin. This may be substantiated by viewing onboard CCTV fitted to vehicles.

If a bin is recorded on the round as ‘not presented’, responsibility for disposal will become that of the householder and therefore the Council will not be required to return to collect the bin.

Should a missed collection be reported on the designated day of collection, and records confirm the bin had been presented on time, the Council will return to collect the bin as soon as possible, excluding Monday.

Overloaded bins

Where a wheeled bin is presented and is considered to be overloaded, either by weight or volume of material, it will be rejected at the discretion of the operator’s judgement and not emptied based on health and safety reasons. The wheeled bin will only be emptied when deemed ‘manageable’ by the collection crew.

Where householders do not present their refuse or recyclables for collection in accordance with Council requirements, the householder will have the following options:

• Take the waste to the Household Waste Recycling Centre
• Store the waste until the next collection day

Providing services to residents of Communal Properties

For the servicing of communal properties, the Council will supply appropriate size wheeled bin(s) for recyclables where possible, and for refuse.

Where residents of communal properties do not segregate their waste for recycling in an effective manner, the Council will endeavour to work with residents to encourage recycling. If appropriate the Council will use its enforcement powers to achieve improvement in recycling performance from multiple-occupancy properties, or may choose to remove the bins if this is not possible.

Properties with access/storage issues

The Council will assess properties identified with access or storage issues on an individual basis and cases will be considered on their merits.

Servicing of rural properties

Rural properties should present their refuse and recycling bins at the safest/nearest point to the highway. Collection vehicles will not drive on an unmetalled road (or a road not having a hard surface). Home visits or telephone contact may be carried out where necessary.

The Council’s approach to collecting waste is to follow the waste hierarchy and promote the circular economy approach of Reduce, Re-use and Recycle, in that order. This policy outlines how larger households can request additional residual and/or recycling wheeled bins to assist with recycling or disposal of their waste.

Where a household produces excess residual waste which cannot be accommodated in a 240-litre bin collected on a fortnightly basis and arises from a large number of persons permanently residing in the house the provision of a larger capacity will be considered.

A larger household is considered to have 5 or more persons residing on a permanent basis.

Residual and recycling capacity (360 litre) can be increased on request subject to a fee for households with 5 or more occupants, or where there is other demonstrable need. All new exchange bins will be chargeable. Where the resident will take a used bin, and Council has stock, this would be provided free of charge.

Increased refuse and recycling wheeled bin capacity are subject to the Council being satisfied that service provision is warranted following approval for the request by the Council. This maybe subject to a visit to the property by a Council officer.

The Council will periodically review households who have larger wheeled bin capacity.

The Council will only provide one bin per waste stream, except for Garden Waste, whereby subscribers can choose to pay for more than one bin to be emptied fortnightly during the season.

This policy sets out what bins the Council provides to residents and how they can replace a missing or stolen bin/caddy or have their wheeled bin repaired.

A charge will be made for the replacement of any new bins that are lost, stolen or damaged unless they are damaged during the collection. Replacement lost, stolen or damaged bins can be supplied free of charge if the resident will accept a used bin. A charge is also applicable for providing bins to new properties or where a new owner/tenant/landlord find there are no bins at the property.

Any damage to wheeled bins caused by the collection crews during the collection process will be replaced free of charge. Crews are instructed to report lost (in vehicle) /damaged bins.

Replacement wheeled bins or recycling caddies shall be delivered to householders as soon as practicable after the request has been made.

All refuse and recycling bins supplied to householders shall always remain the property of the Council.

When householders move home, they must leave all wheeled bins and recycling caddies at the property ready for the new occupant to use.

Householders are responsible for the storage, safe keeping and cleaning of refuse and recycling bins provided by the Council. Residents are encouraged to clearly number their bins to assist with any collection queries.

The cost of providing bins for the refuse, recycling and garden waste services will be transferred to the developer for new build properties, where applicable.

This policy states that the Council will not collect any extra refuse which is placed next to a household refuse bin for collection or wheeled bins which are overloaded.

Residents, who are unable to contain their refuse within the refuse bin provided, are encouraged to recycle as much as possible. If they still have refuse that they cannot contain within their wheeled bin, they may take this waste to the Council’s Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) located at Middlefields, South Shields. Recycle waste can also be taken to one of our recycling points across the Borough. (see the web link in paragraph 4.6)

The Council will provide advice to householders on reducing/recycling their waste upon request, or if issues have been reported via the crews.

Should the householder continue to present side waste, the Council will take a stepped approach and if necessary, will take appropriate enforcement action as defined in policy 8.

The Council encourages households to maximise the presentation of materials for recycling. However we would in the first instance encourage households to first consider how to reduce the amount of waste they are generating.

Residents who have additional recyclable waste, that exceeds the capacity of their recycling container should either store it until the bin is empty, take it to one of the Council “Bring Sites” or use the HWRC (Recycling Village) to dispose of additional recycling. More details of accepted waste streams can be found here.

The Council recognises that sometimes our residents have specific medical conditions that may require additional or alternative waste collection requirements. We want to support those residents and make sure we can provide an appropriate solution. This policy sets out the process for households.

Where a resident has a medical condition that generates a significant amount of additional waste a document should be submitted to the service from a medical professional (GP, Nurse etc.) containing details of the type of additional waste produced (residual or recycling) and the length of time this will be required.

Once received the Council will assess the documents. If necessary, contact the resident or their representative to discuss the options and offer a solution. The Council may also seek external advice when assessing the application. If it is deemed that the resident requires additional capacity this will be supplied free of charge.

Residents should update the Council if and when the additional waste storage and collection is no longer required. In any event the Council will periodically review this.

This policy outlines how householders can access the assisted collection service so they can participate fully in the refuse and recycling collection service.

Residents, who are unable to transport their wheeled bins to the required collection point, because of ill health, infirmity or disability, and without other occupants in the household able to assist them (16 years and over), will be considered for the ‘assisted collection’ register, upon request.

Residents are required to complete a simple application form in order to qualify and cases are considered on their merits. Home visits or telephone contacts may be carried out where necessary.

Assisted collections are subject to the Council being satisfied that service provision is warranted following approval of the request to the Council.

Residents on the ‘assisted collection’ register will have their wheeled bins collected by a collection operative from an agreed location, emptied into the collection vehicle and then returned to that same location.

If the householder’s circumstances change, the resident must inform the Council.

The Council will periodically review the assisted collection register.

The decision of the supervising officer will be final.

If you have unwanted items that are too big or heavy to put in your bin the council can collect them. This can be done online or via the customer contact centre. We do encourage where items that are suitable for reuse that residents consider donating items to local charitable organisations that may be able to reuse in support of the waste hierarchy.

Bulky waste collections are only available for domestic properties - not businesses. The council can collect bulky items that you would normally take with you if you moved to a new house, such as:

• Furniture (beds, freestanding wardrobes, sofas)
• White goods (fridges, freezers, washing machines)
• Electrical equipment (computers, hoovers etc)
• Full details of the items we can take

How collections work:

• Items should be placed within the boundary of your property, as close as possible to the entrance, making sure they are not causing a hazard by blocking the public highway. Also please make sure any gates are unlocked on the day of collection.
• Crews cannot enter your property, garage or shed.
• Put your items out on your collection day by 7.30am. We will collect your items between 7.30am and 5pm.
• When leaving household items out for collection please make sure they are stored safely and securely as not to expose others to harm, especially young children. South Tyneside Council does not accept any liability for any items stored or left in a public area prior to collection.
• Do not place items out long before 7.30am as this may cause an obstruction and items may also get wet, meaning that we may not be able to take the items away.
• Do not overfill bags.
• Items longer than 2 metres (6ft) may not be collected, so please cut up carpet into manageable lengths.
• If you are putting your items in a back lane, please put your house number on the back door or wall.
• Stack all items tidily in the same area.
• The collection team will only remove the items stated on your request form.
• Items that are unsafe or that we are unable to move will be left at the property.
• Items presented for a bulky collection should be protected from becoming wet.

Changes or cancellations - Any changes or cancellations must be made before 12 noon the day before the collection day, otherwise no refund can be given.

This policy outlines the enforcement procedures for the Refuse and Recycling Collection service. Building awareness and having an educational approach is important to help residents understand their role and assist with improving recycling and operating efficient services. Enforcement activities will be in accordance with the Council’s ‘enforcement policy’ and as such, any enforcement will follow these principles and be used as a staged approach.

All waste must be presented in Council approved bins to ensure it can be safely collected from the kerbside.

The Council will reject for collection, refuse and recyclable bins for the following reasons:

• Overloaded wheeled bin or caddy or other container (by weight or volume)
• Wrong bin presented e.g. recycling bin presented on refuse week
• Wheeled bin is too heavy to lift, due to it containing heavy waste e.g. construction, DIY or soil waste.
• Contamination of recyclable materials.

Should a householder continue to present side-waste, the Council may take action under littering, fly tipping legislation or other appropriate enforcement action.

Recycling wheeled bins/caddys containing contamination of the recyclable material will not be emptied. A notice will be left on the bin stating why it has not been emptied. It is the responsibility of the householder to remove the contamination and dispose of it in the correct manner. If the contamination is removed, the recycling bin will be emptied on the next scheduled recycling collection day. A special collection can also be arranged for the contaminated bin to be emptied at a charge to the resident.

The householder will be given two notifications for two separate occurrences of contamination of the recycling/garden waste wheeled bin/caddy, the second incident (within a rolling 12-month period from the date of the initial advisory letter); may result in a Section 46 Environmental Protection Act 1990 notice being served to the householder, and will allow a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) to be issued for subsequent breaches or for the bin to be removed.

Any further incident will result in the requirement for a written agreement to be signed. If the resident/landlord wishes to continue to use the recycling service they must sign the written agreement. This will be issued by the Council via email /post/ or visit. Should a further contamination incident occur following the receipt of the signed agreement the bin will be removed and not returned for a 12-month period, where upon the resident must pay for a replacement bin.