Changes to a council's bin service are never easy, especially ones that require changes in the behaviour and habits of residents across North Hertfordshire's 55,000 households.

Ahead of a new service coming in August, Hitchin Nub News spoke with the lead Councillor responsible for Recycling and Waste Management, Cllr Amy Allen, and Sarah Kingsley, the Service Director for Place at the Council.

The interview was part of a communications blitz ahead of the changes to the service, designed to "avoid what happened last time a contract changed (in 2018) where the bedding in was chaotic, confusing – all a bit of a mess" explained Cllr Allen.  

Veolia are the new contractor who'll be dealing with Hitchin's bins from May. They are "experienced with a great reputation" explained Cllr Allen who is "really excited that we're nearly there" after years working on the new contract.

Less excited perhaps are some of the many residents who left questions for HNN ahead of the interview.

The Council admit that moving to a three weekly cycle may be quite confusing for some residents and are also aware that while a few other authorities in the UK have done it – "we are pioneering", said Cllr Allen, explaining that "we are the first in the eastern region to bring this service.

Such a change will require effective council communications including a new leaflet which will accompany this year's Council Tax. Sarah Kingsley said that the council are hopeful that "binfluencers" across towns like Hitchin will help flag which bins need to go out when.

For tech savvy residents a new App will accompany the changed service, putting out push notifications to residents' phones to alert them to which bin to take out on which day, as well as flagging any disruption to planned service.

The background to why there are changes to the service is important. Cllr Allen argues that the new contract is better for the environment and more affordable for the council.

Firstly, the new contract includes new more sustainable vehicles driving more optimised routes.

Sarah Kingsley explained that "all vehicles on the contract which are 3.5 tonne and under will be electric. All of those over 3.5 tonnes will use 100% Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (HVO) to reduce emissions by replacing diesel. We can expect to see a 90% reduction in emissions from the fleet as a result of HVO".

The current recycling rate in North Hertfordshire is 57% and the new contract will seek to achieve a 60% target by 2026/27.

The new set up basically replaces the paper box bin with a larger blue lidded wheelie bin for cardboard and paper that will be collected once every three weeks, taking pressure from the purple lidded non-recyclable waste bin that will also be collected once every three weeks.

Cllr Allen is clear that "we all need to change our behaviour as to how we deal with our waste, we are trying to encourage people not to throw everything in the purple bin". Council sample checks have shown that many residents still throw away food into the purple bin. Food waste will still be collected every week.

Not all households will have to wait three weeks for their purple bins to be collected.

Cllr Allen explained that "support is available for certain households, and we will be writing to all those we are currently aware of that have special medical requirements, larger families, or multiple babies in nappies, for example".

Not all households will see their paper box bin swapped for a wheelie unit.

Whilst this is not something residents can choose themselves, Sarah Kingsley said that "the waste and recycling team are currently compiling a list of roads where we think some residents may need to be issued with a reusable sack for carboard and paper, rather than being issued with a new wheeled bin".

"The type of property that we are assessing for eligibility for sacks are those with no front or rear garden, or where access is difficult or blocked, and those who may be permanently keeping their containers on the public footpath (as an alternative storage location)". 

"There are already a number of properties who receive sack collections because of those reasons. We are also currently engaging with our councillors in case they are aware of specific areas which should be considered for sack collections".

Residents can refuse to accept the new blue lidded bin, but they would simply exclude themselves from the service.

Whilst Cllr Allen sees the contract as "pioneering", opponents are less charitable in their descriptions.

Cllr Ralph Muncer, Leader of the Conservative Group at the Council, told Hitchin Nub News that: "we all rely on the Council collecting our bins and in recent years we have all seen our Council Tax bill increasing. Therefore, it's no wonder people are frustrated that Labour and the Liberal Democrats have decided to impose on them the worst bin collection rota in the East of England".

"The Conservatives have been strongly opposed to these ill-conceived plans that results in people across North Herts paying more and getting less, and means we could see increases in fly-tipping, litter lining our streets, overflowing bins, and an increase in rats and other public health problems in our towns and villages."