Garden Waste collections to restart

Bedford Borough Council is restarting green waste collections from Monday 27 April. Residents must check when their next garden waste collection will be by visiting www.bedford.gov.uk/bins.

During the coronavirus outbreak, the Council has been following the latest government guidance to protect both the public and bin crews working on the frontline. This meant there had to be some changes to ensure priority collections could continue, while enabling the crews to work in line with social distancing measures and stay safe.

Now, with the crews having settled into the new working practices to stay safe and the Council successfully sustaining the government's direction over the priority of household waste and recycling collections, garden waste collections will be restarting from next Monday (27 April), on a monthly basis to begin with.

The Council's crews are still having to work in a different way to ensure that they are staying safe, working to the government guidance so collections may take longer than usual. Black and orange bins will be collected as normal, but green bins may not be collected on the normal bin day. Residents must check when their next garden waste collection will be by visiting www.bedford.gov.uk/bins.

Mayor Dave Hodgson said "Our bin crews have been working really hard, to keep our household waste and recycling collections running in really difficult circumstances, and I would like to join with lots of you in saying a huge thank you to them. We know how much the garden waste collections are valued, and I am very happy to announce that we are able to bring back this service, although in a limited way to begin with. Unfortunately we are not able to accept bagged green waste in addition to the bins, as bags would contaminate the whole collection. We know that people may have accumulated green waste during this brief pause, so would ask that you keep composting where you can. We are working to deliver the best service we can under difficult circumstances and on behalf of all of bins crews, thank you for your patience at this challenging time."

Residents must check their bin calendar at www.bedford.gov.uk/bins or by calling the Council on 01234 267422. The website has been updated to reflect the brief change to monthly collections for garden waste.