Moving towards segregated recycling for households and businesses
From March 2025, the following changes to waste containerisation and collection will come into operation for all households and businesses that receive waste services from the Council:
Reusable recycling containers will be provided to replace the single use plastic sacks currently used on St Mary's, St Martin's, Bryher and St Agnes. Each household or business will receive 3 new reusable containers:
- one for paper and cardboard
- one for plastic and metal, and;
- for the first time, one for glass bottles and jars
The forthcoming changes will not affect the frequency of collections, but we may need to alter collection days. Any changes to collection schedules will be communicated well in advance.
Commercial waste
As a consequence of these changes for our business customers is that we will need to provide an alternative method of paying for commercial waste services. We are still considering options for this and will confirm as soon as a decision has been made and well ahead of the move to reusable containers.
Why are we making these changes?
The Council's Waste Reduction Strategy (2020-2030) commits the Council to the following actions:
- reducing waste
- increasing the amount of waste that is recycled
- expanding the range of materials collected for recycling
In order to accommodate the collection of glass jars and bottles in the near future and to enable additional types of recycling collection in the long term, the Council is investing in a new recycling collection vehicle for St Mary's. The new vehicle will enable segregated recycling to be collected without the need for single use plastic bags. This is because the new resuable containers will be emptied directly into the new vehicle on St Mary's, and directly into seperate recycling receptables on the off-islands. These changes will reduce plastic waste and encourage more glass recycling across the islands.
Waste Service Changes Advice
To help support the community through these changes, the waste team is holding drop in sessions every other Thursday afternoon at the Porthmellon Enterprise Centre. We are happy to hold meetings online via Teams for those who can't attend in person.
We would particularly like to support residents living in flats, and any businesses with concerns regarding waste collections.
Please email zerowaste@scilly.gov.uk if you would like to speak to a member of the team about any of the following:
- ideas or concerns relating to the service changes
- ideas or concerns regarding commercial waste payments
- arrangements for waste management on the off islands
- access to waste and recycling sites
- anything else about the wider waste management service.
Further information
Our waste customers and residents are always welcome to contact the team with any questions or concerns by emailing zerowaste@scilly.gov.uk or calling 01720 424450.