Accrington Council Reassures Residents About Confusing New Recycling Scheme

Accrington Council Reassures Residents
About ‘Confusing’ New Recycling Scheme

Council chiefs in Accrington have reassured residents about the roll out of a new recycling scheme which has been dubbed ‘confusing and bewildering.’ Residents and other councillors have raised concerns about the new £1.15 million scheme being rolled out this month, which will see thousands of new wheelie bins being delivered to households in the area.

The wheelie bins will replace the current bag and box recycling system. Residents will be given information packs containing a colour-coded calendar which tells them when the bins are being collected.

Residents have complained that the council makes recycling too confusing and have taken to social media to say they should keep recycling simple or not bother doing it at all. Elderly residents have complained that the colour-coded chart is confusing and that they get bewildered by things constantly changing.

A spokesperson for the local Residents’ Association said that they had heard many complaints about the new scheme being potentially confusing. Many residents have complained about the fact they now have four bins to store.

The council has hit back and said that they have received a lot of positive messages about the new scheme. They have recruited extra customer services staff to be on hand to answer questions people might about the scheme or the collection calendar. Staff are also going to be going out and talking to residents to make the introduction of the scheme as smooth as possible. The council acknowledge that they are asking residents to make big changes in the way they recycle waste, so they are also going to send letters out containing information and frequently asked questions about the new service. Each household will also receive an information pack detailing which materials they should put in each bin and a calendar showing collection dates for each bin.

Elderly and disabled residents who are eligible for the council’s assisted collection service will continue to receive this service when the new bins are introduced.