Vale of White Horse District Council
Abbey House, Abbey Close,
Abingdon, OX14 3JE
Email: comments@whitehorsedc.gov.uk
Telephone: 01235 520202

Vale of White Horse District Council

The new waste collection service - from 4 October 2010

The Vale and South Oxfordshire District Councils have worked together to secure a new waste and street cleaning contract.

Verdant were selected to run the new shared service which started in South Oxfordshire in June 2009 and will begin in the Vale on 4 October 2010.

The service will lead to a massive increase in recycling through a completely new approach to rubbish collection.

A new weekly food collection service will be introduced so waste that currently goes to landfill can be composted and people will be able to recycle more items than ever through their kerbside collections. In South Oxfordshire residents are now able to recycle glass from the kerbside for the first time and in the Vale the same will apply for mixed plastics - as well as the usual materials like paper and tins. This will help us to recycle more than 50 per cent of our rubbish for the first time ever.

Verdant will also be responsible for street cleaning in both districts.

The contract was awarded after months of negotiations with bidding companies. The multi-million pound deal not only offers an improved service to residents and contributes to a better environment but will also deliver increased recycling credits of almost £200,000 and significant savings of up to half a million pounds to be shared between the two councils. This will free up cash to protect other vital council services.

To ensure that everyone is ready for the start of the new scheme on 4 October, leaflets explaining what is going to happen and how it works will be sent out in May and June, so make sure you keep an eye out for them and keep them safe.  However, as we know that you will already have many questions about what is going to happen and how it will work, we have prepared the following frequently asked questions pages:

• Frequently asked questions - part one - About your new collection - February 2010
• Frequently asked questions - part two - The need for a new service - February 2010
• Frequently asked questions - part three - Bin concerns - February 2010
• Further information regarding microchips - following press speculation in March 2009

If you have any further questions that are not answered in the above Q&As please email admin.vale@verdant-group.co.uk or call 03000 610610.  

For more information see the following press releases:

• Recycling revolution is on its way - 12 January 2009
• Joint waste and street cleaning contract shortlist announced - 3 July 2008
• Councils join forces again to get joint waste and street cleaning contracts - 4 February 2008

Full details about the changes to the waste service will be sent to residents and placed on this website before they are introduced.