Your services
The council collects paper from households across the borough. Collections are on the same day as regular bin collections, but every two weeks. Residents should place old newspapers, magazines, greetings cards, catalogues and papers in their recycling sack next to their wheelie bin for collection. For additional or replacement sacks please telephone us on 01942 404364.
There are also collections of garden waste from many households. These are also fortnightly, on the same day as the paper collection. Please use the green wheelie bin for grass cuttings, leaves and cut branches. You can also use it for clean brown cardboard - but not plastics or food of any kind. Residents involved in the scheme receive a full calendar of collections each year. For those properties not involved, the council's partners in WRAP, the government's recycling agency (external link), have special home composter bins available at discount prices.
A new service began last year. Dry recyclables - glass, cans and plastics - are collected every two weeks from many properties in new brown bins. We will deliver information to you about this service as we expand it.
Follow the links to the left to learn more about these services.
What happens to your recyclables?
Greenstar have produced a short video to show you what happens to the items you place in your bin, you can view this on the Greenstar website (external link)
Local services
You can find recycling facilities for items such as glass bottles and food tins close to where you live. They are often located alongside shops and supermarkets, so where possible, please take your empties back on the next occasion that you go shopping.
Household waste recycling centres (HWRCs)
There are five household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) where residents can take a wide range of materials, including items that cannot be accepted at the roadside banks.
The council has introduced a permit system for vans and cars with large trailers visiting the HWRCs. Household waste brought in a car can continue to be brought to the recycling centres. However householders bringing any van or twin axle trailer to deposit household waste will need a free permit which must be applied for in advance. Trade waste is not permitted.
Old spectacles
Over 140 Kodak Lens Vision Centres nationwide are involved in a recycling scheme called the Kodak Lens Second Sight Project, run in conjunction with Vision Aid Overseas. The scheme asks members of the public to recycle their old spectacles by bringing them into one of the participating opticians. A £1 donation is also encouraged to help fund the sorting, assessing and shipping of the glasses to the Third World, where teams of volunteer opticians from the UK conduct eye examinations and dispense the spectacles to those in need. Every pair of spectacles donated could potentially give someone less well off the chance of vision, something that most of us take for granted. With approximately 300 million people worldwide who simply need a pair of spectacles in order to lead a normal life, the benefits of recycling unwanted spectacles are immeasurable.
Thank you for supporting recycling in Wigan Borough.
