Cardboard-only waste collections due to start

Rotherham Borough Council’s green bin service for mixtures of green waste and cardboard will end on November 14 after which only clean card will be accepted.

Stickers are currently being issued to all Rotherham households reminding them of the scheme, which will run until next year, when on Monday, March 19, the combined green waste and cardboard collection will restart.

A council spokesman said that the switch was necessary because during the winter the collections were 90 % cardboard to 10 % green waste,which was the wrong mixture for composting.

In the summer, the cardboard was mixed with a much larger proportion of green waste, which mean it was suitable for composting.

During the cardboard-only collections householders are being asked to ensure that the bins contain only clean cardboard that is free from contamination.

This year any green bins containing contaminants such as garden waste, household waste, plastic film, tape and polystyrene fillers will not be collected.

This is the second year that Rotherham Borough Council has suspended its green waste collections in favour of cardboard only.

The spokesman said last year’s trial was going well until it had to be temporarily halted because of the bad weather prior to Christmas and the start of the usual Christmas waste collections.

It resumed after Christmas and a total of 800 tonnes of cardboard was collected. 

Households that do produce garden waste during the winter period will again be asked to either home compost their green waste or alternatively, use Rotherham Borough Council's four household waste recycling centres.

Anyone without a home compost bin can find more details composting at www.getcomposting.com or by telephoning 0844 571 4444.