Better bins

Council cleansing staff are promising a bit of Christmas bin cheer for all residents.

For the first time, householders in Wigan borough will have their black wheelie bins emptied weekly over the Christmas period.

Council environment champion, Cllr David Molyneux, said:

“We’ve listened to what residents have told us. At a time when some councils are cutting back on services, I’m delighted we’ve been able to improve things for residents.”

Householders will receive full details of their festive period collections and services for 2008 delivered to their homes, but can expect a black bin collection in both Christmas week and the first week of the new year.

The borough’s household waste recycling centres will be open as usual over the holidays, except for Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, and residents can make use of around 150 handy roadside sites for glass, cans, and other materials. They are usually located alongside shops and the advice is…take back your empties when you go shopping.

2008 is set to see a further expansion in services for residents, as thousands of homes will receive kerbside collections of plastics, glass and cans for the first time. The council expects to roll out the service to virtually everyone over the next 18 months or so.

Cllr Molyneux added: “I’d like to pay tribute to the refuse collectors for helping to provide a better service.”

Collections will return to normal from Monday 7th January 2008, but because of the weekly service, excess refuse will not be collected.