SOUTH Somerset residents are being urged to prepare for their new recycling service by 'thinking inside the box'.

Recycle More is coming to South Somerset at the end of June and will see Somerset Waste Partnership (SWP) collect much more recycling from the kerbside every week.

The initiative will see rubbish collections happening every three weeks instead of the currently fortnightly service.

Making full use of the weekly recycling collections is the key to success and that means making sure you have all the containers you need.

Everyone can have a green and a black recycling box, plus a food waste bin, which are all are free and can be ordered on SWP's website using the My Waste Service menu.

Whether your boxes are broken, missing or you have never had the full set, order them now and be ready when Recycle More.

A SWP spokesperson said now is also the perfect time to check you are recycling everything you can, including food waste – all of which is recycled in Somerset, being turned into electricity and farm compost.

To help South Somerset get ready for the change, SWP is hosting Question and Answer session on its @somersetwaste Facebook page. The first takes place on Friday, May 7, from noon to 1pm, with further sessions as follows:

  • Tuesday, May 25 (7-8pm);
  • Wednesday June 16 (7-8am);
  • Monday July 5 (7-8pm).

Launched in Mendip last year, Recycle More will add the following items to South Somerset’s weekly recycling collections:

  • Plastic pots, tubs and trays;
  • Food and drink cartons;
  • Small batteries;
  • Small electrical items.

Every home will have a new recycling container – a ‘Bright Blue Bag’ - delivered a week or two before the new service starts.

People will need to put different things into different containers, with the bag used to for plastic pots, tubs and trays; and metal items such as tins, cans, tin foil and empty aerosols.

Everyone in South Somerset will be sent information about Recycle More twice before the service starts, at six weeks and three weeks before launch. This will include a collection day calendar and guide to what recycling goes into which container.

More detail can be found at www.somersetwaste.gov.uk/recycle-more.

Garden and clinical waste collections will not change with Recycle More.