Waste and recycling collection delays - latest information
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Working with East Suffolk Services Ltd, East Suffolk Council has developed an improvement plan which will seek to address and tackle issues related to the roll out of the Better Recycling scheme. As part of this, and following discussions with the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE), the Council has chosen to appoint a Waste Operations Specialist to support the improvement of the service. A four-month contract has been signed with a value of £62,400. In addition, we are recruiting additional customer service staff to support with call and email handling – for a four-month period, at a cost of £102,000. These are one off costs to be funded from the Waste & Recycling Strategy reserve. Existing budgets for the Better Recycling scheme are supported by a regular income stream received from the government. The council is paid for the material it collects and recycles, and in 2026/27, the value of this payment is anticipated to be in the region of £2.6m as per the notice of assessment received by government. |
East Suffolk Council is supplying all households in East Suffolk with an additional wheelie bin or other container to collect paper and card separately from plastics, metal, cartons (including Tetra Pak) and glass bottles or jars. Food waste collection caddies will also be provided. Your new recycling bin will have a green lid, and your food caddy will be light grey.
If you have not received your new bin and food container and/or caddy, please let us know through our Better Recycling bin delivery issue form and the bins will be with you as soon as possible. If you have already notified us that you have been missed, there is no need to contact us again. Please keep your card and paper separate and store separately, if possible, until your new green bin arrives.
Meanwhile, any missed collections should be reported by residents to the council.
Please note that most flats and properties with communal waste collections across East Suffolk will start to receive their new bin and food caddies from mid-June onwards.
- What you can put in your green-lidded recycling bin
- What you can put in your blue-lidded recycling bin
For further information visit the Suffolk Recycling website or by use the new East Suffolk app.
Most households should be able to accommodate the extra recycling bin and the food waste container. Where we know this will be difficult, we will be providing you with an alternative. However, please do get in touch with us via our Better Recycling service adaptations request form if you are concerned.
Details of your new bin collection days can be found in the My East Suffolk bin collection date finder, the East Suffolk app, or within the information and calendar you should have received in May. If you have misplaced this information, these are links to the leaflets:
- Households with their own bins and food caddies leaflet
- Households that share bins (communal bins) leaflet
- Frequently asked questions leaflet
- All current information leaflets
Thank you for supporting Better Recycling and your patience as the change to the new system takes place. With your support we will be able to recycle more, and reduce waste.
Recycling more, reducing waste
National targets require us to divert 60% of waste to recycling by 2030 and 65% by 2035. The current co-mingled method of collecting recycling in one bin means that a large amount of the paper and card we collect is contaminated by the other items. The ‘twin stream’ method, with an additional recycling bin, will transform the quality of materials for re-use, with huge environmental benefits.
Why three-weekly waste collections?
The new service means that much less residual waste will need to be collected, allowing the council to adopt a three-weekly waste collection service without a reduction in the overall, combined capacity of household bins.
Suffolk has the potential to divert over 58% of waste from rubbish bins to other recycling and organic waste collections. On this basis, and to encourage improved recycling habits, a twin stream recycling plus food waste collection service, will greatly increase recycling rates and reduce the waste which is unnecessarily disposed of.
Three-weekly waste collections will also save an extra 6,500 tonnes of carbon emissions a year compared to two-weekly waste collections.
All you need to know and all your questions answered about the new service
A range of additional information including how to report missed bins and ordering replacements
Your garden waste bin lid colour is changing
To support the transition to the new Better Recycling service, and to ensure that bin lid colours are the same for different waste types across Suffolk, we will be upgrading your garden waste bin with a new brown lid. Find out more...
Supporting residents living with sight loss or impairment with Better Recycling
East Suffolk Council and the Suffolk Waste Partnership have consulted Suffolk Sight to design and develop a set of stickers for Better Recycling bins.
The stickers, that can be placed on each type of bin lid, are now available on request by contacting Customer Services.
A sticker can be placed on each of your recycling and food bins to help you identify the type of waste bin it is and therefore what you can put in it.
On the top left-hand corner of each sticker is a raised yellow shape to feel and help you identify the waste type.
The sticker with the raised yellow circle should be placed on your new outdoor grey food container.
The sticker with the raised yellow square should be placed on your new green lidded bin for paper and card recycling.
The sticker with the raised yellow triangle should be placed on your blue lidded bin for all other recycling including tins, cartons, glass bottles and jars, cartons and plastic containers, trays and film.
Thank you for your support for Better Recycling and we hope that this helps you with your recycling.