Waste and recycling collections - residents with symptoms of COVID-19

If you have coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms, your waste and recycling must be handled differently.

Guidelines on handling your waste - grey bin

Your heavily contaminated items (i.e. tissues and disposable cleaning cloths) must be double bagged and quarantined for 3 days.

You must follow the guidelines below around putting your waste out for collection and returning it to your property:

• Put heavily contaminated items (i.e. tissues and disposable cleaning cloths) in a plastic rubbish bag
• Put that bag into another bag and tie it
• Store it securely, away from your other waste, for a minimum of 3 days before putting it in your grey bin (do not store in communal areas or on the street)
• If your next grey bin collection is more than 3 days away, you can put your double bagged rubbish straight into the bin
• Remember to wash your hands and clean the handles of your bins and boxes before and after you put them out

Once the household's isolation has come to an end, waste collection can resume as normal.

Double bagging heavily contaminated waste

It is only the waste that is heavily contaminated (i.e. tissues that have been coughed in and cleaning cloths that may also be heavily contaminated) that are required to be double bagged and quarantined for 3 days. This will ensure that if the virus is present on bin bags, there is sufficient time for the virus to die before the council's waste team handle it.

It is more important than ever to ensure that rubbish bags are all securely tied and contained within the grey refuse bin to help prevent spills and protect our collections teams and the public.

Guidelines on handling your recycling bins and boxes

If you have coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms, your recycling must be treated differently.

• All recycling must be clean and dry
• All recyclables must be placed in the recycling bin three days before your collection day
• Once the household's isolation has come to an end, waste collection can return to normal
• Remember to wash your hands and clean the handles of your bins and boxes before and after you put them out

Try to reduce your waste

We are working hard to make sure you still get regular recycling collections. We are extremely busy and there may end up being changes to how your bins are collected, so please try to keep your household waste down to a minimum.

By using our schemes, you can recycle up to half of all the rubbish you produce. Recycling is important but, where possible, you should also try to reduce and reuse your waste.

Importance of hand washing

Remember to wash your hands and clean the handles of your bins and boxes before and after you put them out.

The crew will have touched all the bins on your street, plus lots of others too, and can't change their gloves between each bin or box, so this helps to keep them and you stay safe.