Changes to bin collection days in parts of East Durham and Durham City will take effect in October as part of measures by Durham County Council to make the service more efficient and reduce costs.
Almost 50,000 households will be affected by the changes to the refuse and recycling collections which will be brought in from Monday, 10 October 2016. The council will be writing directly to everyone whose collection day will be changing and the letter will also include a collection calendar to help manage the changes.
Some properties will have the collection day for their refuse and recycling bins changed, others will have a different collection week, while some properties will be affected by both.
Residents who receive help to put their bin out through the Assisted Collection scheme will still receive this service on their new collection day if they are affected by the changes. No changes are being made to the garden waste collection service.
Following Cabinet approval earlier in the year in June, the council are making the changes to make sure the collection service remains efficient, provides value for money and takes into account new housing developments in the county. The move is expected to save the council £170,000 a year.
Alan Patrickson, head of direct services, said: “The new collection routes will make our service even more efficient and cost effective. We appreciate bin collection changes may cause some inconvenience in the short term as people get used to the new dates so we would encourage people to look out for their letter, which will include a new collection calendar, to get the information they need.”
As the changes don’t come into effect until the week commencing 10 October, residents should continue to place their bins out as normal until this date.
To help residents while the change takes place, any household which has extra rubbish can place it in a bag next to their rubbish bin on the new collection days. The additional rubbish will be collected up until Friday 21 October.
Residents can find information about refuse and recycling www.durham.gov.uk/bincollections.