Refuse and recycling roadshows have your say

Hundreds of residents have given their thoughts about our proposed changes to recycling and street cleaning.

We want to hear from you.

Our Neighbourhood managers are travelling the borough to answer any questions you might have on proposed changes to how your recycling is collected and your streets are cleaned. You will also be able to give your feedback. The roadshows are taking place at the following locations:

Councillor Krupa Sheth, Cabinet member for Environment said: "We want to make sure you have the opportunity to shape future services. There is no better way to find out about our proposed changes than coming to meet our friendly neighbourhood managers who can take you through the proposals, as well as answer any questions you might have.

In July the council started consultation on the following changes:

• We’re proposing giving you a sack to separate out ‘fibre’ (mixed paper, cardboard, newspapers etc.) from ‘containers’ (e.g. plastic, tin cans, tubs).
• We would collect the two sets of materials on alternate weeks. For example: Week 1 - we collect your containers in your existing blue top bin. Week 2 - we collect your fibre sack, and repeat. You will therefore still have weekly recycling collections.
• General waste would continue to be collected fortnightly and food waste weekly – remaining as they are now.

Other London boroughs have tried this and found that people recycle more – this is better for the planet and on balance would likely save the council significant money because it’s costly to dispose of general waste and we can sell recycling to providers.

We are also looking at introducing a new free bookable Small Items Collection Service to make it easier for you to recycle textiles, small electrical items, batteries, coffee pods and paint.

Changes to street cleansing

We are also looking at moving to an intelligence-led approach to street cleaning. This means that teams will be deployed where it is needed most, supported by rapid response teams who will be on call to clean areas when needed.

This will be a move away from the current approach that focuses on teams being deployed to different streets on a rota system, regardless of whether they need sweeping.