Waste strategy: a new collection policy

Following government updates, we have revised our plan for new waste and recycling collections. View the latest information about changes to recycling and rubbish collections.

For a new collection service, a new collection policy will be put in place.

This will refine some of our actions by defining operating procedures, alternative arrangements for certain property types, container sizes, and associated policies such as side waste, assisted collections and allowances for larger households.

Key principles of that waste collection policy

Help putting out waste and recycling

We will continue to provide an assisted collection service on request for residents who have either a temporary or long term disability, illness, mobility issue, or injury, that prevents them from taking their waste to the edge of their property.

This will be available for collection services including general waste, recycling, food waste and garden waste.

The operative would collect container(s) from an agreed point and return it after emptying.

Bin capacity and size

For most households, the capacity provided in the 180 litre general waste bin, 180 litre recycling bin, 90 litre reusable bag, and the food waste caddy, should be ample storage for all your household's waste and recycling.

We recognise that some households may need more capacity and therefore larger households (5 or more permanent residents) and those with a temporary need for additional waste capacity, such as 2 or more children in nappies, will be able to apply for larger wheeled bins.

The application process will be subject to checks and a waste advisor may visit your property to ensure that recycling services are being fully utilised before extra capacity is issued.

Additional waste and recycling

The move to a containerised system will help improve the cleanliness of our streets and encourage waste prevention and recycling.

Therefore, no side waste will be collected, and bins must not be overflowing.

We will however, introduce policies for residents that need more capacity and provide additional reusable bags for those that have more paper and card. We will relax the side waste rule when people have more waste and recycling at Christmas.

Alternatives to wheeled bins

We will try to ensure that as many households as possible have access to our "core collections service" described in section 7.

However, not all property types will be suitable. An early part of our work to implement the new service will be surveying properties to assess access and storage potential for containers. Decisions on the type of container you receive will be at our discretion and you will be notified prior to the roll out.

Here follow some examples of how certain premise types may be assessed. This list is not exhaustive, and the details behind this will be confirmed via a formal waste collection policy as described above.

For properties which have no side or back access, or which may front directly on to the highway, for example, some terraced housing or flats above shops, alternatives to the core collection service could include:

General waste

retain sack collection
fortnightly or weekly collection

Dry recycling

provide lidded boxes for the mixed materials (plastic, glass, metals)
reusable bag for paper and card
fortnightly or weekly collection

Food waste

as with the core service

Areas only accessible by specialist vehicles where large vehicles cannot access, for example, some rural properties, alternatives to the core collection service could include:

General waste

retain black sack collection
fortnightly collection

Dry recycling

provide lidded boxes for the mixed materials (plastic, glass, metals)
reusable bag for paper and card
fortnightly collection

Food waste

as with core service, however caddies will have to be presented at the main highway

Households which currently use communal waste or recycling facilities, such as flats or houses in multiple occupation, alternatives to the core collection service could include:

General waste

communal bins for general waste (householder would provide own sacks)
weekly or fortnightly depending on capacity of the bin store

Dry recycling

communal bins for mixed containers (plastic, glass, metals)
communal bins for paper and cardboard
reusable bag provided to transport materials from flat to communal bins
weekly or fortnightly collection

Food waste

140 litre communal bins and internal storage caddies
weekly

Additional actions

increased and improved signage for bin store areas
specific communications work for flats

Properties with access to free roaming animals

For areas with free roaming animals which suffer from animal attacks on waste, we may continue to ask residents to leave some or all their waste inside their gate or cattle grid.

Operatives would then access the property to collect the waste and return the container. Consideration for alternative containers will be given if our surveying identifies access or storage issues.

Contaminated recycling

We will aim to ensure that all residents are using our recycling services to their full potential.

Any recycling bins that are heavily contaminated with general waste cannot be collected, as tipping general waste into the recycling can impact the quality of the rest of the load.

Operatives will leave communications on the bin to advise the resident. This could be a sticker or a label.

This system of directly advising the individual residents will be a key tool to improving recycling.

Where to present your waste

We will ask householders to place containers at the edge of their property where it meets the public highway.

We will review the situation where this is not practical or appropriate.

Our delivery timeline

The current proposed timeline for implementation of the new collection service is shown below. At the time of writing, this timeline is provisional because it is dependent upon government regulations and development of waste facilities in Hampshire.

2018, release of National Waste and Resources Strategy
2019, release of the first round of national waste consultations
2019, formation of the New Forest District Council member working group
late 2020, release of the New Forest District Council draft waste strategy and engagement period, followed by further research and development
2021, release of the second round of national waste consultations
late 2021, Approval of the Hampshire Waste Partnership Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy (JMWMS)
2022, adoption of the New Forest District Council Waste Strategy 2022 to 2027, followed by procurement and implementation period after approval
2022, government release response to 2021 consultations
2024, roll out of new service communications and containers
2024, planned completion of new Hampshire waste infrastructure
2024, start of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) funding
2024, new service expected to go live in phases, supported by ongoing monitoring evaluation communications, outreach and engagement to reduce waste and increase recycling
2025, national target of 55% recycling rate
2027, five year full strategy review