08 October 2008Sevenoaks District Council provides three types of kerbside recycling services to District residents.
Details of the largest of these services - the weekly collection of recyclable household waste on the scheduled refuse collection day - can be found by following links lower on this page.
You can also watch a video about what Sevenoaks District Council collects from your kerbside for recycling.
And, by following the links directly below, you can find out all about the Council's long-running Garden Waste Collection Service and the fortnightly collection of recyclable white goods:
The weekly collection of recyclable household waste
Background - what you asked for!
In 2000, the Council published a comprehensive Recycling Plan, and took comments from residents that included:
"More plastic recycling is needed."
"Kerbside recycling collections should be weekly."
"A recycling scheme is a social necessity. A doorstep service is essential."
" think more separate collections are important."
"n order to encourage people to recycle their household waste, it should be made as convenient as possible."
As part of the Best Value Review of Waste Services carried out the following year, the Council commissioned an independent survey to assess local peoples' attitudes towards rubbish. The greatest number of comments were made in relation to recycling services, and of those surveyed 82% of respondents expressed a desire for a weekly kerbside collection:
"I would like a plastic, can and cardboard collection."
"I would like separate sacks for recyclable material."
"I would use a free weekly recycling collection from home."
"If the Council could provide free bags for recycling and collected them regularly, more people would be able to recycle."
"I would love to have separate bags for recycling and rubbish."
"I would love to recycle more."
The Council took those comments seriously and subsequently decided to carry out a six-month trial to collect recyclable material from kerbside.
The Kerbside recycling scheme explained
Since November 2003, all towns and villages in the District have been included in the Council's weekly kerbside recycling scheme. Households separate their rubbish into two sacks: the new clear recycling sacks for recyclable material, and the traditional black sacks for all other rubbish. Recycling and normal rubbish sacks are then collected at the same time on your normal rubbish collection day.
And, every 20 weeks each household receives a roll of 25 clear recycling sacks, a roll of 20 black sacks and the Current Community Recycling Newsletter with updated guidance on how to use the scheme.
New residents can call the Sevenoaks District Council Contact Centre on 01732 227000 to ask for sacks, and can begin using their clear sacks as soon as they arrive. You can now view a webcast video about how to use our kerbside recycling schemes and read on below for even more details.
Here's how the scheme works
Recycling sacks are now collected separately in all towns and villages in the Sevenoaks District. Your recycling sacks are taken to the Kent County Council Dunbrik Transfer Station, in Sundridge, for bulk-transport to a new high-tech sorting and recycling plant - known as an MRF (materials recovery facility) - at Rainham in Essex. The vast majority of clear sacks-properly tied shut by you-do not burst and arrive at the recycling facility intact.
Once at Rainham, the contents of the clear recycling sacks are mechanically sorted, and then made ready for recycling - including the clear recycling bags! Your black rubbish sacks are taken to landfill, as in the past.
When used properly, the scheme works well. Now more than three years on, we estimate that up to 30% of the District's household waste will have been recycled by the end of March 2006, meeting the statutory target of 30% set by Government. And, with household participation now at over 80%, the clear sack recycling scheme remains popular with residents.
The Council's new target is 35%, so there is still a lot of work to be done.
Need more recycling sacks? Additional recycling sacks can be obtained from various outlets (
PDF 88K file details) throughout the District.
How do I use my clear recycling sacks?
The clear sacks, designed to be tied closed, are sturdy but not indestructible. Four 'bunny-ears' at the top of the sack allow you to securely close them. Please make sure that you remove air before securely tying the tops - this helps to prevent the bags from opening and bursting.
What can I put in the clear recycling sacks?
Yes ü |
No X |
ü Cans and jar lids
|
X No
|
ü Clean paper, cardboard and boxes
|
X No Food waste
|
ü Aluminium foil (clean, without food)
|
X No glass
|
ü Plastic bottles & plastic jars (crushed if possible and with the tops removed)
|
X No other plastic or Polystyrene/Styrofoam
Why no other plastics? The recycling facility sorts plastics mechanically, and is only set up to sort plastic bottles and plastic carrier bags.
|
ü Plastic carrier bags
|
X No garden waste
|
PDF 88K file details) throughout the District. Alternately, you can buy a full roll of 25 sacks or 50p. We're hoping you'll only need to use one sack a week, as we hope you will reduce waste as well as recycle
What do I still put in my black sacks?
Your usual black sacks are for non-recyclable rubbish, such as food waste that cannot be composted at home, plastic food packaging and wrappings, polystyrene and so on. Glass bottles and jars should be brought to one of the District's many recycling sites.
Current recycling performance
At the end of March 2007, 30.24% of the household rubbish in the Sevenoaks District was recycled, a steady increase from 27.84% a year earlier. And during the month of July 2007, we recycled over 35% of the household waste collected in the District.
Although our current performance is above the national average of 27%, we still need to do a lot more as our new target it to regularly recycle 35% of household waste by the end of March 2008. We are confident that kerbside recycling combined with other Council recycling initiatives will help us to meet that goal.
You are not wasting your time. In some rural areas and on narrow roads and lanes, the black and clear sacks taken from your kerbside will in most cases be collected by two vehicles - one for black sacks and one for recycling sacks. Yet, seeing both recycling and black sacks being collected by the same vehicle is a concern of many residents. The misconception is that the clear sacks are not being recycled. Please be reassured that when collected together in the same vehicle, that vehicle has a 'split-body' and that the sacks remain separate at all times and all of the clear-sack contents are sent for recycling.
The clear recycling sacks - also known as 'survival sacks,' are made from a sturdy plastic but are not indestructible - so don't overfill them. Experience from other councils' trials has shown that they are strong enough to withstand transport to a recycling facility. You can help to keep your recycling sacks from splitting by removing as much air as possible, and tie them securely using the four 'bunny-ears' at the top when you put them out. If the sacks are not tied securely, the contents will spill out and be spoilt.
"Why 25 sacks every 20 weeks? "What if I run out of clear sacks?"
The vast majority of households use only one sack a week - and only occasionally more than one. So the most cost-effective way to run the scheme is to deliver based on one-and-a-quarter sacks a week. But, households that need more recycling sacks can get two more recycling sacks each week, at no cost, from the Council's offices.
We're hoping you'll only need to use one sack a week, as we encourage you to reduce waste as well as recycle. but we know that some households - particularly large ones - need more. So, we continue to expand the number of locations where extra sacks and full rolls can be obtained. We're making every effort to make recycling easy for you - and cost-effective!
Need more recycling sacks? Additional recycling sacks can be obtained from various outlets ( PDF 88K file details) throughout the District.
No, please do not use your clear sacks for general rubbish or garden waste. Clear sacks containing non-recyclable rubbish will not be collected. Putting non-recyclable rubbish in your clear sacks will cause problems at the sorting plant, and your clear sacks might be sent to landfill.
Still have questions?
To find out more about the kerbside and other recycling schemes, e-mail us at recycling@sevenoaks.gov.uk or telephone the Sevenoaks District Council Contact Centre on 01732 227000.
