Latest news and future plans
Yes to Yellow Pages - September 2008
Following recent trials by our reprocessor, Aylesford Newsprint, we are pleased to announce that we are now able to accept Yellow Pages telephone directories in with the paper in the blue box.
Plastic Bottle Tops - July 2007
Due to a change in the plastic bottle reprocessor that Wealden uses, there is no longer any need to remove the tops from your plastic bottles. However, we do still require them to be washed and squashed before being placed in the white bag.
New Legislation on Waste Electrical and Electronic items - June 2007
New European legislation called the WEEE Directive (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment), came into force in June 2007. It aims to increase the re-use and recycling of electrical and electronic waste so that the amount being landfilled and incinerated is dramatically reduced. The new law states that retailers and manufacturers are responsible for dealing with electrical goods once they become waste. They are encouraged to make more durable, repairable and recyclable electrical goods, as well as pay for more recycling sites for consumers.
Electrical and electronic items should therefore no longer be placed in your landfill bin and should be taken to the Household Waste Recycling Sites where they can be recycled in accordance to the new directive. Alternatively, some stores will accept the items back for recycling providing you are buying the same item from them at the time.
Crown goes rural (Crown caddy scheme) - May 2007
Due to recent national legislation which will require all households to have at least 2 materials collected from the kerbside by 2010, and in addition national targets to divert biodegradable waste from disposal at landfill, the Council have had to consider other options for collecting recyclables in rural areas.
We have therefore introduced a kerbside service into Forest Row and Danehill which will also tackle waste minimisation. Each household is issued with another bin for green waste and cardboard, a blue caddy for paper and a red caddy for cans and plastic bottles. The collection is an alternate weekly collection and will only require one split compartment lorry to collect all the materials over the fortnightly period instead of the current setup, where a second vehicle is collecting the dry recyclables. If the scheme is successful we hope to use this as a template to expand the scheme to all rural areas who are currently not on the CROWN scheme.
Extremely successful plastic bottle collections delay expansion - October 2006
The introduction of plastic bottle collections has proven to be so successful that we are having to delay the expansion to the final three phases. Due to the large quantities of plastic bottles and the subsequent increase in the amount of paper we are collecting, we are now having to evaluate our ability to manage the material and make necessary change to our Materials Reclamation Facility in Uckfield. These changes will enable us to extend the plastic bottle collections to the remaining areas.
Crown Calendar and Waste Matters go yearly - December 2004
Following the cost saving needs identified through Wealden's Medium Term Financial Strategy, the Waste Management Department have decided to produce the collection calendar and Waste Matters on a yearly basis. This is on a trial basis and we would welcome the views of residents, especially if this creates a problem.
Results of the Waste Collection Review (Should Crown be expanded) - June 2004
The main focus of the review was to consider whether the Crown recycling scheme should be expanded and if so how. The review considered several other policy issues such as missed bins, provision for larger households, bank holiday collections and changes in legislation.
The recommendations are that the Crown scheme should expand geographically as soon as economic circumstances permit, that we look to work towards improving the economic conditions which prevent the expansion and that we commence a trial collection of plastic bottles as part of the Crown scheme.
The remaining policy and operational issues have been incorporated into a five year improvement plan. Bank holiday collections remain unchanged and we are asking residents to label their wheelie bins to reduce the risk of containers going missing and needing to be replaced.
No thank you to kitchen waste - June 2004
Due to the changes in the animal by products regulations, we have had to exclude kitchen waste from the bin for green waste. This change in regulations has resulted from a risk assessment carried out by the government to assess the potential for infected meat contaminating any kitchen waste, which was considered necessary following the recent foot and mouth and swine fever out breaks. The concern is that, if such waste is composted in the open air, as is the case at our contractor's site at Isfield, there is the potential for any contamination being passed on to animals if it is carried by birds or vermin.
Fruit and vegetables that have been prepared in the kitchen, and also tea bags, coffee grounds, egg shells and kitchen towels are still suitable for home composting, which is the most effective means of dealing with such materials. Alternatively they should be placed in the landfill bin.
Fruit and vegetables that have not been prepared in the kitchen can still be placed in the bin for green waste as they would not have come in to contact with meat.
No thank you to plastic bags - December 2003
Wealden has recently purchased new vehicles in which the recyclables are compacted. For this reason we are trying to reduce the number of plastic bags being used.
To assist both the collection crew and our sorting staff at the Materials Reclamation Facility in Uckfield, we are asking residents to comply with the following;
- not to place their cans or papers out in plastic bags
- where possible place all cans and foil on top of the papers
- separate any aluminium foil using plastic bags
- Rinse all cans before placing them out for collection
Aerosols can now be recycled - December 2002
We are please to announce that we are now able to accept aerosols in the blue box. Please remember to follow the following rules before placing them in your blue box
- Do not squash or pierce the aerosol
- Only put empty aerosols in the blue box
- remove all plastic lids
Crown expansion gets approved - August 1999
CROWN was approved for expansion to cover all the larger towns in 1999, this has taken 3½ years to introduce because of the complexity of the service.
Areas covered by the CROWN service are as follows
Rest of Hailsham (Hailsham East, Town Centre & Gleneagles area), Hellingly, Horsebridge, Herstmonceux, Windmill Hill and East Dean.
