New Forest District Council (NFDC) is expected to provide an update to households on plans for new recycling and rubbish services, following a meeting of its Environment and Sustainability Overview and Scrutiny Panel meeting, which was due to take place on January 12.

NFDC is planning to introduce wheelie bins for garden waste in April 2024, before delivering further service change from 2025. Further service change will include households receiving separate food waste collections, wheelie bins, and being able to recycle more plastics from the kerbside.

Cllr Steve Davies, portfolio holder for environment and coastal services, said: “We have been reviewing the timeline for the new service, and how we can deliver it as smoothly as possible for residents.
“This has included looking at whether we could introduce wheelie bins for all our recycling and rubbish services in 2024. To make all planned changes to the service, we are reliant on new sorting facilities in Hampshire, which are currently expected from 2025.
“It’s important we get the new service right, so that it works for our community for the long run. For this reason, we’ll be starting with changes to garden waste collections, and introducing further changes once we have measures in place to deliver them effectively.
“A new garden waste service in 2024 will allow us to start making vital action to protect the environment and reduce waste. Wheelie bins for garden waste will provide double the capacity of sacks, and allow us to collect more recyclable garden waste, which will increase recycling rates. Plus, there is the added advantage to our customers and our crews of being able to wheel bins rather than carry heavy bags.”
The council will continue to provide an assisted collection service for households that need support in taking garden waste to the edge of their property, and will survey those properties that might need an alternative to wheelie bins.

Residents can read about planned changes to the service online at https://www.newforest.gov.uk/wastestrategy, or contact the council’s customer services for a print copy.