10 things you need to know about the waste and recycling collection day changes

26.01.2021

We're changing our waste and recycling collection days to provide a better service that's more efficient and cost effective in the long term.

From Monday, February 22, you may have a change to the day, week or time your collections take place.

Look out for a letter through your door in the next fewweeks which will explain everything.

In themeantime, please take a look at these ten things you need to know about the changes and how they might affect you:

What are the changes?

The council currently collects waste from residents'homes using a two-shift system from Monday to Friday. These shifts are from 6am until 2pm and from 2pm until 10pm.

Under the new system, which begins rollout on week commencing Monday February 22^nd, waste collections from residents' homes will take place from Tuesday to Friday and all waste will be collected from the city's streets by 3.30pm.

The changes to the waste collection arrangements will mean that 75% of households in the city will see a change to their waste collection day and/or a change to the week that they put their general and green garden waste out for collection. The changes will impact all kerbside collection services, including bulky waste and hygiene waste.

So the changes are for all types of waste, recycling (green bags); food waste, general waste and green garden waste?

Yes, for those affected, the collection day will change for all types of waste.

The days we collect your hygiene waste and bulky waste will change too.

Why is the council making these changes & what are the benefits?

The collection rounds have been re-modelled to improve efficiency and to provide a better service to the public. The benefits will be:

We aim to collect all waste from residents' homes by 3.30pm. This will mean that waste is left on the streets for a much-shorter time, giving birds and animals less opportunity to rip-open any bags which have incorrectly had food waste put into them. This will help keep our streets cleaner.
The waste collection teams will be working at the same time as our mechanics are, which will mean that vehicle breakdowns will be able to be resolved quicker than before.
All waste collections will take place when our contact centre is open, which will improve customer service.
Although our waste collection crews will be working longer hours each day - they will have proper rest periods and will work a four-day on, three-day off pattern. This will help staff recuperate from what is a very physical role. When they are working, they will also spend less time working in the dark, which will improve their safety and the safety of road users.
As there are no collections on a Monday, there will not be any delay to collections on Bank Holiday Monday weeks, and collection crews will also work on Good Friday.There will be impacts on bank holidays that do not fall on a Monday but information will be provided to residents about these arrangements closer to the time.

How will you be communicating the changes & where can I find the information?

A letter will be delivered to every household in the city from January 26^thonwards. Even if your waste collection day is staying the same, you will still receive a letter to confirm your collection day from 22^ndFebruary onwards.

The letter will also contain a leaflet with your new collection day, alongside a simple recycling guide on the kerbside collection scheme.

You will also be able to view your new collection day, and what type of waste to put out each week on the Cardiff Gov app and at www.cardiff.gov.uk/collections by entering your property address and postcode. You can also ask our chatbot Bobi at www.cardiff.gov.uk/askbobi

Information will be updated on the on-line postcode checker for each property, after they receive their waste collection this week, (Monday January 25^thuntil Friday January 29^th.)

If you do not have access to the internet, you can request for a collection calendar to be posted to your home by contacting Connect 2 Cardiff (C2C) on 2087 2087.

Information will be posted on the Council's Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages and the media will be sent a press release about the changes.

Due to the restrictions with COVID-19, the Council is unable to carry out any outreach sessions, but information will be provided to local councillors and community councils so information can be shared with communities across the city.

You struggled to collect all of the Christmas waste, over a full week. How will you manage to collect all of Cardiff's waste within four days?

Our collection crews currently work two shifts, between 6am until 2pm and 2pm until 10pm using the same waste collection vehicles. Under the new system we will have an additional 24 refuse collection vehicles and twenty more full-time staff working a longer, single shift pattern over four days. This will enable us to collect all the city's waste over the four days. Our Christmas collections were also seriously affected by staff falling ill and having to self-isolate because of COVID-19.

Will these changes impact apartments and flats?

Yes. Individual properties within blocks of flats will also receive a letter and relevant management companies and caretaking services are being notified. Flats and apartments will be collected by a dedicated waste vehicle and crew. The aim is to ensure they always have the necessary information on access codes and bin store locations.

Why are some areas not having any changes, whereas my area is?

75% of households will see a change to their waste collection day. All wards that are currently collected on a Monday have had to be reallocated to a different day. So the rounds have been re-modelled on that basis to improve efficiency.

I have an assisted waste collection, how will it affect me?

The arrangements for your waste collection and where your waste will be collected from will not change, but you will receive a letter informing you if your waste collection day, and or collection week has changed. Please keep an eye out for it. If you haven't received a letter before February 12 then please contact C2C our customer services on 2087 2087 and we will arrange for a new letter to be sent out to your address.

What if the changes don't affect where I live, will I still get a letter?

Yes, you will receive a letter regardless of whether your waste collection day changes or not.

What should I do if I haven't received a letter?

We will need some time to deliver these letters to all properties. If you do not receive a letter by 12^thFebruary, please contact C2C on 2087 2087 and we will arrange for a new letter to be sent out to your address.

Remember, you can also check your new collection day by looking at our digital collection calendars on the Cardiff Gov app, at www.cardiff.gov.uk/collections and by asking our chat bot at www.cardiff.gov.uk/askbobi

Are there any other questions you would like answered?

If you have more questions please ask Bobi, our chat bot, at www.cardiff.gov.uk/askbobi.