Council bulky waste collection returns to combat lockdown fly-tipping

Newark and Sherwood District Council has reinstated a scaled down bulky waste service to provide support to residents until the Nottinghamshire County Council-managed household waste recycling centres can be reopened to the public.

Residents can now make bookings for up to six items to be collected from their property for disposal.

Bulky waste collections will resume at a reduced rate of £5 per item. While operatives will only have capacity to deal with a small number of jobs per day, it is hoped the reintroduction of a limited service will reduce the levels of fly-tipping incidents, which have had a 61% weight increase across the district.

Residents are asked to telephone customer services on 01636 650000 to make a booking and take payment.

All bulky items that would usually be collected as part of the service will be accepted, with the exception of:

• Fence panels
• Garden sheds
• Large electrical/white goods items, for example American-style fridge freezers

Small under counter appliances, which can be collected by one operative, are still being accepted. 

To protect residents and waste crews, customers will be asked to confirm if they are self-isolating or shielding when making a booking.

Each item should be left at the front of a resident’s property for 72 hours before collection. Operatives will not interact with residents and will be unable to collect items from inside a resident’s house or back garden.

Councillor David Lloyd, Leader at Newark and Sherwood District Council, said: “We are constantly reviewing our services, considering factors such as safe methods of working, government guidelines and the availability of colleagues, however we are now in a position to reinstate a limited bulky waste and white goods collection service and ask that residents bear with us as our operatives try to support as many people as possible.

“We realise that any postponement of front line services has a detrimental effect on our residents and are concerned with the increase in fly-tipping incidents. We continue to ask residents to be vigilant and report anyone dumping rubbish illegally.”

“We are hopeful that the County Council recycling centres will be in a position to re-open to the public in the near future, however in the meantime we have reinstated and reduced the fee of our bulky waste collection service to support residents with any waste management issues they currently have.”

The council has confirmed that garden waste (brown bin) collections remains temporarily suspended. With up to 13,000 customers using the service, it cannot be reinstated while the Government guidance on social distancing remains in place.

NSDC says this is continually being reviewed with particular consideration for the safety of staff and residents.

Further information about the bulky waste collection service can be found on the NSDC website: https://www.newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk/bulky/.