Blue Bin Recycling
Last year, Ipswich residents sent 43,692 tonnes of rubbish to landfill, at least 50% of this could have been recycled.
So following many requests from the public for recycling from the doorstep, Ipswich Borough Council introduced a pilot trial in which plastic, paper, cans and cardboard were collected fortnightly from residents' homes.
During November 2003, 5,300 blue-wheeled bins were delivered to homes in the Rushmere, Whitehouse, California and Bramford Lane areas of town.
This trial proved very successful so the scheme was expanded to a further 8,500 homes in the Castle Hill, Westbourne, Stoke Park and Priory Heath part of town.
By April 2005 nearly 53,000 households were able to recycle from their doorstep by using their blue bin. Since the scheme started in 2003 over 12607 tonnes of waste has been recycled instead of being buried in landfill.
Q. What can go in the blue bins?
A. Your blue bin is for recycling dry and clean paper, cans, cardboard and plastic household waste.
Please place all of the recyclable material into the bin loose, there is no need to put it in bags.
Yes please
- Newspaper, magazines, directories, junk mail, envelopes.
- Cardboard packaging, boxes and cartons.
- All drinks, food and pet food tins.
- Aluminium foil containers and milk bottle tops.
- All plastic bottles, including milk, juice, fizzy drink, squash, washing up liquid, shampoo (please remove all bottle tops but include them in your blue bin), rigid pots and tubs e.g. yoghurt and ice cream.
No thank you
- Glass (please use glass recycling banks).
- Polystyrene packaging
- Polystyrene food trays
- Aerosols
- Waxed milk and juice cartons (tetra paks).
- Garden waste (use household waste & recycling centres/home composters or your brown bin if you have one).
- Textiles (please use textiles recycling banks).
- Plastic carrier bags/plastic film.
- Shredded paper.
- Crisp packets
- GreenBottle milk bottles currently being supplied to Asda stores
Q. When will my blue bin get emptied?
A. Your blue and brown bins will be emptied once a fortnight on your recycling week. Your black bin will be collected the next week on your usual collection day.
Q. How do I know what week is recycling week?
A. Your recycling bins should have a blue or a yellow sticker on them.
If you have a yellow sticker on your bin you need to put your blue and brown bins out on the collection weeks highlighted in yellow.
If you have a blue sticker on your bin you need to put your blue and brown bins out on the collection weeks highlighted in blue (the collection calendar can be viewed here).
Your actual collection day should not alter, but we will notify you if any changes are made.
Please make sure your bins are out on time as collection times may change. The first collection starts at 6.30am. If the collectors call and the bins are not on the boundary they will not get collected.
Useful Tips:
Crushed waste takes up less space. Please rinse and crush all cans, tins and plastic bottles.
Prevent waste sticking to the bottom of your bin by lining it with 1 or 2 sheets of newspaper.
Use your old washing up water to clean the tins and bottles, that way you aren't using extra water.
Reducing odours from your black bin is just basic housekeeping. Wrap waste up in paper or put the waste into bags before putting them into your black bin.
Wheeled bin liners for the black bin can be purchased from various supermarkets and shops. If a spillage does occur it will be contained within the bin.
Stick on air fresheners can be stuck on the bin lid to minimise odours.
Make sure the lid is shut down properly on your black bin, this stops odours getting out and flies getting in.
Disposable nappies can be put into nappy sacks or, as disposable nappies take over 200 years to fully decompose, perhaps you would like to consider the more environmentally friendly re-useable nappies.