‘Look out for your letter’ is the message from Somerset Council as recycling and rubbish collection days change for 92,000 households in eastern parts of the county in June.

New collection routes are being introduced for many homes in the former South Somerset and Mendip districts.

Many households in these areas will have a change in collection days from the week beginning Monday 17 June 2024, following changes made to the rest of the county earlier this year.

Being brought in by the council’s contractor, SUEZ recycling and recovery UK, the new routes will make rounds more efficient, more manageable for crews while reducing mileage and carbon emissions. The changes come at no additional cost to the council.

Residents may have:

• a change to collection day
• a change in the week that their rubbish is collected (although will still be collected once every three weeks)
• a one-off additional collection of rubbish, to avoid residents going too long between collections

If a household’s collection days are changing they will receive a letter in early May making this clear. This will be followed by a service guide – including a collection day calendar – ahead of the changes beginning in June. Look out for this and save it for future reference as this will show your new collection day.

If a household does not get a letter in May, there will be no changes to their collection days, but all households will still receive a service guide and 12-month collections calendar near the end of the month.

Residents who subscribe to the garden waste collection service are reminded that they will continue to get collections as per their original schedule. If households are due to renew their service they should go ahead with this as planned.

There are also no changes to, clinical waste collections, or communal property collections with shared collections such as blocks of flats. Crews will still provide assisted collections.

Some households may have an additional one-off Saturday collection of their rubbish on either 15 or 22 June. This will be made clear in the letter they receive at the start of May and is to make sure no-one goes too long between rubbish collections as crews move to the new routes.

If there is no mention of an additional one-off collection of rubbish in the letter, then the household will not need one.

Councillor Dixie Darch, Executive Lead Member for Climate and Environment said:

“Changes to recycling and rubbish collections have been designed to make the routes more manageable for crews, as well as being more environmentally friendly and cost effective.

“Look out for your letter and service guide and take note of your collection day. If you don’t receive a letter this means that your day is staying the same.

“The changes come at no additional cost to the council and will help towards making the county greener and more sustainable.

“Please make a note of your new collection day and possible interim rubbish collection. Crews can’t return for missed collections where bins are not out on the right day.”

Residents with questions about the changes can head to Somerset Council’s website for further information.

If residents have downloaded their collection calendar to a smartphone they will need to do this again after 17 June.