Waste and Recycling Service - Important Information
How are we collecting recycling?
From 3 October 2022, South Hams District Council is operating the waste and recycling service, as well as street cleansing and public toilets, in house.
At a meeting of the Executive on 13 April 2023, the Council outlined the plans for rolling the Devon Aligned Service out to all properties in the South Hams. You can read the agenda and the draft minutes online at democracy.swdevon.gov.uk.
In the short term we are collecting recycling in three different ways:
Weekly Co-mingled service
♲ Affects 14,500 households
♲ No food waste collections - please put food waste in your black bin or seagull sack
♲ Please sort your recycling into the boxes and white sack. It will be mixed together in the collection vehicle, but sorted at a recycling facility in Plymouth. Nothing will be sent to landfill.
Weekly Full Service
♲ Affects 22,500 households
♲ Food waste is collected weekly from your silver caddy
♲ You can find out what happens to your recycling on this page.
Fortnightly blue/clear sacks
♲ Affects 8,000 households
♲ No food waste collection - please put food waste in your black bin or seagull sack
♲ The recycling sacks will continue to be sent for sorting as they were under the old service.
Sorting Your Recycling
This short video shows what happens to your co-mingled recycling after collection.
Click on the video to view in full-screen mode.
How do I know if I am on the Weekly Co-mingled Service?
Please use the button below to check your collection day. This will show if you are currently receiving a food waste collection or not.
We are also not able to collect batteries and printer cartridges from you at this time and ask that you dispose of these as you did previously. Please note, batteries should not be placed in your grey refuse bin.
Please continue to separate your recycling, so that we can easily switch you back to the new service as soon as we are able.
Blue and Clear Sack Collections
8,000 households will remain on the clear and blue sack system for the time being. Please continue to separate your materials for recycling as you have always done.
Unfortunately for these residents, we are unable to collect your food recycling at the moment, so please place it in your grey refuse bin or seagull proof sack.
We will notify you when we are able to move you onto the new service.
About the Blue and Clear Sack Service
Missed Collection?
If we do miss your next collection, please report it here so that we can keep track of progress we're making or any new issues that might be occurring.
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