Rachel Wells-Soden and Sonja van Dijk are leading on putting plans in place for the villages in case we need to do some of our own waste disposal.  The collection this Monday went ahead as usual.  We hope this will continue.  BaldonsInfo received the following email from Oxford Council's Waste Strategy Manager yesterday:

Dear all

We have seen a number of communications from groups eager to help waste services during the current corona virus pandemic.
 
We would like to reassure you that the county, city and district councils are working hard to keep services going, and would like to offer the following advice to those looking to help: 

• Waste management is a highly regulated area with potential for serious health and safety and environmental consequences if something goes wrong.  If collections are disrupted, please do not make plans to collect and manage or burn the waste yourselves.  Storing waste on unpermitted land is illegal as it can cause serious environmental pollution and you risk fines and/or a prison sentence.  We are working as a county to ensure that waste collections will continue and that waste will not be left on the streets. 
• Thank you so much for showing your appreciation to our collection crews who are working hard to keep bin collections going, however please ensure that you respect social distancing and stay at least 2m away from staff to help protect both you and them. 
• Household Waste Recycling Centres are currently closed in line with Government advice on social distancing.  During this time please do not fly tip your unwanted items at bring-bank sites or other locations.  This is illegal and you risk being fined if caught.  We appreciate that this is an excellent time to spring clean your house and garden, but please store any waste until sites are open again. 
• If you are keen to help during this period there are a number of volunteering opportunities across the county. Find an initiative near you via Oxfordshire All In or if you would like to volunteer in Oxford City, please complete this form via Oxford Together.  
• Once restrictions are lifted, we would welcome your support and enthusiasm to encourage people to segregate their waste and reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible.  You can find out how to repair, donate or recycle items on the waste wizard www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/wastewizard. 

 
Kind Regards
Rachel
 
Rachel Burns MCIWM
Waste Strategy Manager
 
www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/waste
www.oxfordshirerecycles.org.uk
 

 

Update 18 April 2020:

 

You can find out how to repair, donate or recycle items on the waste wizard:  www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/wastewizard. 

We have had to suspend our kerbside collections for batteries, small electricals and textiles recycling service because the centres that would normally accept these items are currently unable to take them for processing. Please keep these items until the service has resumed and do not put them in the general rubbish or recycling bins because of the fire risk to bin trucks.

If the bins in your street are not emptied, please leave them out for up to three days (including weekends) and we’ll try to catch up. If still not emptied, bring them back in and we will empty them on the next planned collection day.

We have suspended some non-essential services, including new bulky waste bookings, new garden waste subscriptions and investigating abandoned vehicles.  We may have to suspend garden waste services: if this is the case, we will let everyone know through our social media sites and council websites.

Please wash your hands before and after taking the bins out to practice good hygiene for themselves and our bin crews.

Please don't leave waste in black bin bags next to litter bins to be collected, this is illegal and requires our teams to do extra collections and makes it harder to provide the residential and communal services the teams are continuing to do.