A SURVEY of all the properties in East Cambridgeshire suitable for the incoming wheelie-bin recycling collection is set to begin in the coming weeks.

The district council won a £5 million bid from Government to fund a new recycling service late last year and work to purchase the equipment and assess which households will be suitable for bins is about to begin.

It is planned that the first bins will arrive between September and November.

Although the weekly black bag service will remain in place, the current setup for recycling using the brown sack and black box collection system will be replaced with a fortnightly collection for paper, glass, metal cans, plastics, cartons and cardboard and a separate collection for food and garden waste.

The work to put in place the new system will include a survey of all households in the district and the authority published a set of guidelines this week.

Among the new guidelines, the authoroity said it would not provide wheelie-bins to houses where: “there is insufficient space to store bins within the property boundary without blocking pedestrian or vehicular access, or directly obstructing windows, and

there is no reasonable rear or side access to allow off street storage of bins”

Homes that are deemed ineligible would retain the current black box and brown sack collection service, though negotiation with the authority will be possible.

East Cambridgeshire District Council hopes the new system will help it improve its recycling rate, which has dropped to less than 40 per cent in recent years following cuts to its budget.

Most houses will be issued with standard blue and green 240-litre bins though some flat complexes will be provided with 1,100 litre shared bins.

The council has started a tender process with six different suppliers for the contract to supply the bins, with a decision expected to be made by April. A fleet of 12 new collections vehicles is expected to arrive by August.

Up to seven jobs are expected to be created to help the authority introduce the new scheme.

The district council has planned a high-profile publicity campaign in the run-up to the launch of the new collection service, with roadshows, leaflets, posters adverts, officer engagement and even an ‘ad bike’.