Advice issued for dedicated recyclers

The new scheme, which involves the same day collection of dry recyclable materials in the green bin and food and garden waste in the brown bin, has the potential to drive up the district’s recycling rate to a record high of 70%.

Although the scheme continues to improve how the Council manages the district’s waste, some residents have raised concerns that they are having difficulties trying to fit all dry recyclable waste which they accumulate over a fortnight into the green bin.

To help households manage their green bin waste, the Council is issuing the following advice:

To free up space and allow a greater amount of materials to fit in the bin, you should squash items such as aluminium cans, cardboard boxes and plastic bottles. When squashing plastic bottles, it’s recommended that you remove the lid first before squashing and then replace this.

If you have no or a very small quantity of glass bottles and jars to recycle, remove the caddy for glass containers from the bin and fill the bin with other materials. The caddy can be emptied on the next collection date if required. Only do this if you don’t need the caddy emptied and never leave the caddy sitting out separately beside the green bin.

We may consider offering households with a large number of residents a larger green bin but your household must meet certain criteria before you can be considered eligible to receive this.

If after trying everything else, you find you still have too much dry recyclable waste to fit into your green bin, do not put it in the black bin. Simply bring it to one of the community recycling centres in Banbridge, Dromore or Rathfriland where it will be sorted and recycled in the same way as the rest of the materials that is placed in your green bin.

Council Waste and Environmental Manager, Barry Patience, says: “There’s no denying that this new scheme has been a great success and I cannot thank local households enough for being so eager to embrace it. I applaud the fact that residents are anxious that they don’t place anything into the black bin that should go into the green bin for recycling as it highlights their dedication to the scheme. Going forward, I am confident that their commitment will be reflected in the district’s rocketing recycling rate.”

Contact the waste helpline on 4066 0604 if you have any queries about the new kerbside recycling scheme or to find out if your household is eligible to receive a larger green bin.