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New Service Frequently Asked Questions

1. When has the New Waste and Recycling Service in North Herts started?
The Council wanted to ensure that there was a smooth transition to the changed service in 2007. The new service began on 15th October 2007 and residents have been given plenty of advance notice, a booklet, a DVD and a calendar as well as support in helping them get used to the change.
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2. How does the New Waste and Recycling Service work?
Your grey refuse bin is no longer collected every week. Since 15th October 2007 your grey waste bin and brown bin are collected on alternate weeks. Your recycling boxes are collected with your brown bin. Every week you will get a collection of either waste or recycling.
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3. Haven’t you only switched to the New Waste and Recycling Service to save money?
No, we have introduced this scheme to reduce the amount of waste currently being dumped at Landfill sites. We are hoping that you will help us to improve the environment by actively reducing, reusing and recycling, by diverting waste from your grey bin to the recycling boxes and brown bin.

The Council is committed to delivering value for money services and ensuring that we are efficient and well managed. Any savings made have been reinvested into improving recycling facilities such as the installation of plastic collection banks sited throughout the district.
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4. Is any other Local Authority collecting waste in this way?
This system has been successfully introduced by a number of local authorities throughout the UK and is proving to be the most effective way of increasing recycling and dramatically reducing the waste placed into landfill. There are now over 190 Councils providing collections on a similar basis in England, Scotland and Wales.
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5. I pay my Council Tax and I want all of my rubbish taken away
We have always had a policy of not taking any additional side waste. Therefore rubbish that is not placed in your bin will not be removed. We also maintain that your bin should have the lid closed, and this stance has not changed.

We will be collecting your waste every week, the only difference is that you will be required to separate it into the appropriate containers:

Paper, junk mail, magazines in your Blue Box
Mixed coloured glass bottles, jars and tins / cans and aerosols in your Black box
Food and garden waste and cardboard in your Brown Bin
Non recyclable waste in your grey bin
Plastic bottles can be taken to recycling sites, conveniently located around the district in both rural and urban areas

We only receive a small amount of your Council Tax to enable us to provide you with a refuse and recycling service. In 2006/7 it was £1.04 a week. This covers you for the collections of your grey bin, brown bin and your recycling boxes. We also service all recycling facilities within our District for that price as well.
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6. What are the benefits to me?
We all want to do our best for the environment and the improved services will make it easier.

For example:

By making it more convenient to recycle
Keeping down the cost of waste disposal and recycling
Making us all manage our waste more effectively
If we think about the material and the packaging that we buy then we can also reduce the amount of waste we bring home.
Reduce harmful green-house gases being released from landfills which has potential to harm future generations
Preserving valuable natural resources for the next generations

7. What if I don’t want to do it?
It is not currently our policy to force you to recycle but we will only collect your non recyclable (grey bin) waste every other week. If you choose not to separate your waste then you will have to minimise the amount of waste that is generated in your household to fit into the bin.

The majority of households already separate their waste into recyclable materials and non-recyclable refuse, which significantly contributes to reducing the amount going to landfill thus helping the environment.

If you are experiencing difficulties, please call us and arrangements can be made for a waste advisor to visit you and talk over any issues. We can also offer a bin audit (if over 6 in a household) and offer advice on how to reduce your waste.
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8. How do I know when to put each bin / box out?
All households have been given a collection calendar so that you know when each container needs to be placed out for collection. This information is also available on our website.
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9. Have residents been given information about the new service?
Booklets, DVDs and calendars have been delivered to every household in the district.
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10. What do I do if I haven't received my leaflet/DVD and calendar?

Contact Veolia on 0800 328 6023 and they will send you the information.

11. What happens if I currently receive help with my bins?
Assisted collections are available to households where there is no one able to present the bin to the kerbside. If you currently receive this service then you will continue to do so.
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12. I live in a flat or in a house with a sack collection. How will this system work for me?
Special arrangements have been put in place for flats to ensure your waste is managed correctly. Look for notices in your bin stores for more information or call 01462 474000.
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13. Can I put plastic bags in the grey wheeled bin?
Yes, please contain your waste securely in either carrier bags or black bin liners. However, please do not put any plastic bags in the brown wheeled bin as this is sent away for composting.
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14. If I want to reduce the amount of waste my household creates and recycle more of it where can I go for help?
You can contact the recycling and waste team on 01462 474000 or email service@north-herts.gov.uk. We are always available to offer help and advice and even visit you at home if this is more convenient for you. Also visit www.recyclenow.com or www.wasteaware.org.uk
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15. Home Composter offer
We are still offering our subsidised home composter offer for residents of North Herts. Home composters can accept any garden or kitchen waste (except meat, fish and dairy products) and will reduce the amount of waste that you are putting out for collection in your brown bin. Please refer to the Home composter offer on our website.
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16. Nappy Cashback offer
We are still providing up to £40 cash-back to any resident who buys reusable nappies (certain conditions apply) or uses a reusable nappy laundry service. For further details, please refer to the Reusable Nappies section on our website.
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17. My child / children use(s) disposable nappies and I do not have enough storage space in my bin, what can I do?
If you have any children in disposable nappies you may find that these nappies are taking a lot of space up in your grey waste bin. You may wish to switch to re-usable nappies which cut down on the amount of waste in your bin. Re-usable nappies have come a long way since the original terry towelling and now they are available in pre-folded and are easy to use.

Please refer to the Re-usable nappies section on our website for further details.
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18. I have a large family and the grey bin is just not large enough. What will you do?
By separating and recycling your waste, the grey bins should be large enough for most families:

Households with six or more permanent, full time residents, will be considered for a larger bin if they are recycling all possible materials. Waste Auditors will visit any household applying for a bigger bin to ensure that it is in fact required and that the household is recycling as much as possible.
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19. Will my bin smell and will it be a health hazard after two weeks in the sun? Will it attract rats and maggots?
There have been a number of investigations made and it has been concluded that there are no additional health risks to having your waste stored in your bin for two weeks.

Moreover a recent scientific study conducted by DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and Cranfield University, found that there is no increased risk of flies and vermin if rubbish is properly wrapped and the bin lid is closed.

Nappies should be sealed in appropriate bags before being placed in the grey bin.

Rats are only attracted to loose food or waste that is left outside the bin. Collecting the residual waste every other week works better in authorities which have wheeled bins. Where authorities have sack only collections it may not be appropriate. If the waste is contained in the recommended way by having a closed bin in the kitchen, wrapping your food waste up in newspaper or a paper bag before putting in the brown bin and your bin is stored with the lid closed, there will be reduced risk of attracting vermin or encouraging flies.

For more information see top tips for good bin management.

There is no evidence from all the authorities that already have an alternate week waste / recycling collection service, that it causes any increased rodent problem. Actually evidence from the National Pest Technicians Association says that the rodent population is on the decrease. Rats are more likely to be attracted by waste refuse from fast food outlets and food debris in the street and the Council is tackling these problems through other measures.

We are only subjected to warm conditions that may cause problems for a short period during the summer time. Keeping food waste covered in the kitchen before it is put into the brown bin minimises the timescale for flies to land on the food and laying eggs which develop into maggots.
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20. Why won't you take any waste put at the side of the bin?

NHDC has a “no side waste” policy. This is in place in order to minimise the quantity of waste produced by each household which is sent to landfill. Every year the amount of waste produced in the country increases by approximately 2%. It is accepted that this level of waste growth is not sustainable and consequently waste minimisation schemes are being introduced (e.g. recycling and home composting). If residents use all the recycling facilities available their refuse capacity should be sufficient.

21. Doesn’t the Council have to collect my waste every week?
The Environmental Protection Act 1990 states that Waste Collection Authorities have a duty to arrange waste collection, however there is no stated or implied frequency. You will still receive a weekly collection but your waste will just be sorted into separate containers.

It is also important to remember that it is not the local authority's waste, it is the householder's waste. It has been generated within the home therefore the resident has a responsibility for the waste, its separation and management.
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22. If my waste is not collected every week, will it encourage fly-tipping?
Experience from other Councils suggests there is very little chance of this happening. Also we provide ample facilities for residents to dispose of their waste and will give advice to anyone who requires assistance.

However we are already taking steps to foil fly tippers including installing CCTV cameras at likely sites and prosecuting anyone we catch.
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23. Why should I do the sorting?
As it is the householder’s waste we ask that the householder separate the waste before they place it into the appropriate container.

Once your household rubbish has been mixed up it is impossible to separate it into clean materials that are suitable to be recycled into something new. For example, once your old newspapers have come into contact with used nappies, food waste or tissues, we cannot recycle them into new paper. Similarly, we cannot turn your food and garden waste into useful compost if it contains other materials like plastic.

We are not asking you to sort through your own rubbish bin. When you throw something away, make sure it goes into the right container. Recycling boxes can be used for paper, magazines, junk mail, glass bottles and jars, aluminium and steel cans and aerosols. You can take your plastic bottles, tetra paks, textiles etc. to a recycling bank and place all of your non-recyclable waste into the grey bin.

Your food and garden waste can go into your brown bin with cardboard. Vegetable matter can also go into a home composter if you have one.
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24. Why do the materials have to be separated?
We at North Hertfordshire send our recycling materials straight into the separate re-processors. There is no further sorting after it is collected from the kerbside which is why it is important residents do this carefully.

Some Local Authorities have access to a Materials Recycling Facility (MRF - where the various materials are segregated) which is capable of accepting mixed loads of recyclables then separating them on a conveyor belt. However, there is no such facility close enough to North Hertfordshire to make this a financially viable option. This is why we ask our residents to carefully separate the different materials before collection.
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25. Why can’t I put envelopes into my blue box?

Over the years, we have had many discussions with Aylesford Newsprint who recycle our paper about whether recycling envelopes is acceptable. We agreed that it was acceptable provided that the windows and gummed sections were removed.

Aylesford have found that although many people want to recycle their envelopes, many people fail to remove the plastic windows and gummed sections. This means that the material isn’t a high enough grade to recycle and so we are unable to accept envelopes at all. By not accepting envelopes, it will reduce the contamination of plastic windows and gummed sections that Aylesford and its machinery has to deal with.
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26. Will you fine me if I make a mistake and my recycling materials are mixed?

If you place the wrong materials into your bin or boxes a contamination notice will be placed on the box or bin detailing why it has not been collected or only partly collected. Only if a resident consistently does not comply with the service requirements would a financial penalty be considered. Residents would be given many opportunities to be made aware of any mistakes they may be making and we would be willing to discuss any issues with residents if required.

It is important to ensure that you separate the materials because if your recycling is contaminated (because you have put the wrong things in it), we have to send the whole lorry load to landfill rather than recycling it which undermines the efforts of all the residents on your round who have been recycling correctly. Alternatively it will not be collected and left for the householder to dispose off.

27. Should I wash my cans out and take the labels off?
For hygiene reasons it is best if you rinse the cans out to get the worst of the food residue off as this could smell during storage. There is no requirement to take the paper labels off cans as these are removed during the recycling process. For health and safety reasons, you may wish to use a safety can opener which leaves no sharp edges on cans. These are widely available in shops or on the internet.
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28. Is it really worth collecting waste and recycling separately?
We are hoping to recycle about half of the domestic waste we all produce in North Hertfordshire over the next few years; this is a huge amount compared to a few years ago. The only way we can do it is by collecting it separately. The benefits to the environment include:

Reducing the amount of waste that has to be landfilled
Reducing the amount of harmful gasses, which are a cause of global warming, being released into the atmosphere from landfill
Reducing potential pollution of watercourses
Preserving valuable resources and environments from which materials are extracted, and reusing and recycling as much as possible

29. Do you take extra recycling materials that I can’t fit into my boxes?
Yes we take extra recycling materials as long as they are segregated into separate containers (either a box or a bag); one container for paper and other container for glass and cans. However we can not take extra green waste.
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30. Do you also take extra garden waste and cardboard?
No, one brown bin full per household only.
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31. Is there a limit to the percentage of cardboard I can place in my brown bin?

There is no longer a limit to the percentage of cardboard you can place in your brown bin. You can place as much as you can fit in the bin. However if you still have any excess it can be taken to one of the Household Waste Recycling Centres at Letchworth or Royston.
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32. Do you still take my recycling even if it has got wet in the rain?
Some residents think that we will not pick up recycling if it has got wet from the rain. This is not the case as we will always endeavour to make collections rain or shine.

The recycling is sent to a covered bay where, if it is wet, it can be dried out for a couple of days before being sent on to the recycling processor.
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33. Do I need a lid for my recycling boxes?
No, as an alternative to a lid, you are able to stack your Black Box inside your Blue Box. Both boxes have drainage holes in the base to drain any excess water out. By stacking your boxes in this way, it helps to stop any loose paper blowing away.
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34. Why can’t I recycle plastic bottles at the kerbside?
At present the cost to introduce this service is incredibly high on our current waste contract. It did not represent best value for council tax payers money.

Therefore there is a network of sites available to accept plastic bottles. These cover both rural and urban areas. The location of these sites is updated on our website when applicable.
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35. Why can we only recycle plastic bottles?
At the moment there are not many reprocessors in the UK that will accept other types of plastics apart from plastic bottles. However we are always looking for new recycling markets.
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36. I've seen a plastic bottle bank which is overflowing, who should I contact?

Please contact Recresco on 01623 721006 who will arrange for the bank to be emptied.

37. What happens to the things we recycle?
Paper – once it is collected from your home and from the recycling banks it gets transported to a paper mill in Kent where it is transformed into newsprint paper.

paper recycling cycle

Glass – once it is collected from the district it is transported to Nottingham, where some is used for road aggregate and some is used to make new glass bottles.

glass recycling site

Cans – once collected they go to Essex where aluminium is separated from steel. Aluminium is then sold to a company which produces mainly cans. Steel is sold to various companies, and the end use includes building work.

cans recycling cycle

Food waste, cardboard and garden waste – once collected from North Herts households it goes to a local farm outside Baldock where it is composted and will then be distributed to garden centres across the district in the form of Ace of Herts Compost.

garden waste composting cycle

Textiles – these are collected by different charities across the district. The use given to the collected products will depend on their quality:

If in good condition they will be sold at local charity shops.
If the quality is acceptable but not so good for our internal market it gets exported to Developing Countries.
If the product is beyond its useful life it is recycled into rags, to be used either as cleaning cloths in factories or as filling by certain industries such as the car industry

textiles reuse and recycling cycle

38. Why bother Composting?

Traditionally, gardeners have created their own compost using leaves, grass, shrub clippings and other useful organic materials found in the garden. Applying compost to soils provides an excellent conditioner and mulch, which fertilises and provides soil structure, retains moisture and can restrict weed growth. Man-made compost is an alternative to the peat-based compost extracted from important natural wildlife sites.

In recent years there has been interest in the creation of garden compost from organic household waste, as a result of the growing awareness of the environmental problems created by the traditional disposal methods. In the UK around 30 million tonnes of domestic waste is produced each year, which contains on average about 38% organic content, such as vegetable peelings, tea bags and food scraps.

In 2003-2004, 72% of municipal waste in England ended up in landfill sites. The organic materials within a landfill are the main source of methane in England (a greenhouse gas responsible for global warming, 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide) and, they produce a liquid called leachate, which may enter and contaminate water supplies. The alternative to landfill, incineration, whilst reducing the mass of the waste, does not dispose of it altogether; approximately 30% of the original mass remains, it still needs to be landfilled, and is still a waste of resources.

The creation of compost from organic household waste helps the government achieve its target of recycling 33% of all domestic waste by 2015 . Individual households can help reach this target by either making their own compost or by participating in a centralised community scheme. In 2003 - 2004 compostable waste was the most popular material collected for recycling, making up 30% of recyclables collected. The success of both home composting and centralised schemes is dependent upon the separation of organic (putrescible) waste from other waste.

39. What is methane and why is it harmful?

Methane is a chemical compound with the molecular formula CH4. It is the simplest alkane, and the principal component of natural gas. Burning one molecule of methane in the presence of oxygen releases one molecule of CO2 (carbon dioxide) and two molecules of H2O:

CH4+ 2O2→ CO2+ 2H2O

Methane's relative abundance and clean burning process makes it a very attractive fuel. However, because it is a gas (at normal temperature and pressure) and not a liquid or solid, methane is difficult to transport from the areas that produce it to the areas that consume it. Converting methane to derivatives that are more easily transported, such as methanol, is an active area of research. Certain microorganisms can effect this selective oxidation using enzymes called methane monooxygenases.

Methane is a relatively potent greenhouse gas with a high global warming potential (i.e., warming effect compared to carbon dioxide). When averaged over 100 years each kg of CH4 warms the Earth 25 times as much as the same mass of CO2. The total warming effect of CH4 is smaller than that of CO2, since there is approximately 220 times as much CO2 in the Earth's atmosphere as methane.

The Earth's crust contains huge amounts of methane. Large amounts of methane are produced anaerobically by methanogenesis. Other sources include mud volcanoes which are connected with deep geological faults.

40. Who can I contact to get more information?
You are can contact the Recycling Team on 01462 474000 or email service@north-herts.gov.uk. The Recycling Team are also able to visit you to discuss any issues.

To find out where your nearest recycling site is please visit the WasteAware.
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41. Where should I put my dog faeces?

Dog faeces can be flushed down the toilet or alternativelly they should be placed in a dog loo which residents can fit in their garden. For more information you can do a search for "dog loos" on a search engine.

42. Is NHDC considering Pay as You Throw for waste?

As an authority we are not in favour of Pay as You Throw and are not considering this as an option for waste collection in the near future even though Central Government will soon be giving powers to local authorities to implement these types of schemes if they choose. As legislation and targets evolve, it may be that we have to consider this but at the current time it does not form part of our longer term waste management plan.

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