South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse district councils have made it even easier for residents to check which bin their waste items go in by using the councils’ new recycling wheels.

The councils have produced the wheels to help increase recycling rates by promoting the kerbside recycling collections and making sure residents are putting the right things in the right bins.

The wheels are the latest of the councils’ recycling promotions - they also have a smartphone app called Binzone, which tells users which bin is due for collection that week and includes a waste item search function to find out which bin to throw their rubbish into.

The new wheels are recyclable and are available in libraries across the districts. They will also be offered to community groups to give to residents and to schools as an educational tool.

Cllr Caroline Newton, cabinet member for Housing and Environment with South Oxfordshire District Council said: “Around 80 per cent of household waste can be recycled and while the councils have very good recycling rates, there is always room for improvement. These are designed as an easy-to-use reminder for people to keep at home when they are sorting out their waste.”

Cllr Elaine Ware, cabinet member for Housing and Environment with Vale of White Horse District Council said: “By helping residents recognise which items go in which bins, the councils aim to increase recycling rates and at the same time reduce the amount of recycling which is contaminated if the wrong thing is accidentally dropped in.”

 How do they work?

• The outer wheel has the item to be recycled eg.plastic bottles
• Spin the inner wheel until the arrow points to the item
• The cut-out window on the inner wheel will reveal a colour
• This colour corresponds to a key which tells you where to dispose of the item eg. plastic bottles go into the green wheelie bin
  
  The Binzone app is available by searching for “Binzone” in the Apple Appstore on iPhones and on the Google Play store on Android smartphones.
  
  Schools or community groups in South or Vale who would like some recycling wheels can get in touch with the councils’ waste team on 01235 422146 or waste.team@southandvale.gov.uk. - STOP PRESS - ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE PARISH OFFICE!

If a resident needs to report a missed bin they should contact Biffa:

• online by visiting southoxon.gov.uk/missedbins before midnight on the next working day after the collection was due
  
• by calling 03000 610610 before 5pm on the next working day.
  

Crews will only return to collect a missed bin if it was originally put out before 7am on the scheduled collection day.

There are some occasions when crews can't collect a bin – for example, if the bin was not put out in time.  If a resident has put the wrong items in their recycling, or the bin was too heavy or overflowing, then the crew will place a tag on the bin to explain why it wasn’t collected and will attempt to collect it on the next scheduled collection.

If there are repeat problems at a property or a specific area, Biffa will investigate.  If a collection is missed at the same property on a number of occasions, and the issue is not resolved by Biffa, residents should email waste.team@southandvale.gov.uk and SODC will investigate.