The Council is consulting on a new Waste Collection Policy which, for the first time, details all aspects of our waste collection services in one document.

Many aspects of the services provided are well-established and will be familiar to local residents and businesses. There are, however, a number of new provisions in the policy on which we would like to seek your views.

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* 1. Bin Collection Service 
The Council currently collects one black bin, one brown bin and up to two blue bins per household every fortnight (on an alternate week basis) free of charge. There are no proposed changes to these collection arrangements nor to other aspects of the existing bin collection service.

The Council is, however, proposing that households may purchase a second brown bin which will be emptied, subject to an annual service charge of £100.

The charge is proposed because the primary purpose of brown bins is to dispose of food waste which is unlikely to fill more than one bin in an two-week period. A second bin is most likely to be used to dispose of garden waste for which alternative arrangements can be made, eg, home-composting, disposal at a local recycling centre.

Are you broadly content with the Council’s current approach to the collection of residents’ bins?

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* 2. Bin Collection Service
Given that 1 brown bin is sufficient to collect food waste in any two-week period, do you agree that a second brown bin should be emptied subject to an annual £100 service charge?

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* 3. Bulky Waste Collection Service
The Council currently offers a bulky waste collection service where up to 3 large items of household waste will be collected (e.g. fridge, freezer, beds) for a nominal charge of £5 per collection.

The revised policy does not propose any change to the current arrangements.

Are you broadly content with the Council’s current bulky waste collection service?

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* 4. Recycling Centres
The Council currently provides 11 recycling centres across Mid Ulster where residents can dispose of a range of household items.

Current opening hours are based on the annual waste tonnage which goes through each centre.

The revised policy does not propose any change to the current arrangements at recycling centres.

Are you broadly content with the current recycling centre arrangements?

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* 5. Litter Bins
The Council provides litter bins generally within the settlement boundaries (as defined by speed limit signage) of towns and villages across Mid Ulster.

While bins may be provided at the entrance to private housing developments, they are not sited inside the developments themselves. In addition, new litter bins are not provided within 50m of an existing bin.

There will always be exceptional cases made for provision, for example, along the footpath of a designated walking route.

Moving forward, the Council will provide litter bins which are suitable for the disposal of dog foul and will no longer provide separate dog fouling bins.

This is the first time the policy for providing litter bins has been documented.

Are you broadly content with the current arrangements for the provision and siting of litter bins?

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* 6. Skips and Hook Lift Containers
While the Council uses skips and hook lift containers in its recycling centres, these are not made available for public hire as there are private sector companies offering this service.

The Council will, however, provide skips and hook lift containers to support officially registered or notified community/public space clean-ups or to support waste collection at public events where normal bins are insufficient. Normally provision will be limited to one occasion per year for housing estate clean ups.

The policy formalises the Council’s existing practice in relation to the provision of skips and hook lift containers and the only proposed changes relate to the limit of one container per year for housing estate clean-ups.

Are you broadly content with the current arrangements for the provision of skips and hook lift containers for community/public space clean ups and for public events?

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* 7. Any other comments
Are there any other comments you wish to make on any aspect of the Waste Collection Policy?

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