Information for Residents
SKDC have advised of some changes to recycling about to take place within the District.
17 September 2024
Household battery collections start in South Kesteven
A new battery recycling scheme for South Kesteven is operating from Monday 16th September.
It is to encourage recycling of household batteries, which must be left in a small bag, such as a new freezer bag or clean nappy sack, tied to the lid of the black, silver or purple-lid wheelie bin on collection day each week.
The cross-party initiative by South Kesteven District Council shows a collective commitment across the political parties to drive progress on recycling and work to meet Climate Change goals.
It will also reduce the risk of fires in bin lorries and keep crews safe while supporting SKDC’s climate action goals.
Cabinet Member for Environment and Waste, Cllr Rhys Baker, said: “This service is available every week to all residential addresses with a wheelie bin, with the battery bags emptied into a separate container attached to each bin lorry. There’s no extra cost to householders for this.
“The fire safety issues we have experienced is a real danger to crews: when batteries are thrown away in the bin with your other household waste and recycling, they are likely to be crushed or punctured in the bin lorry or at the processing centre.
“Some batteries, particularly rechargeables, can ignite or even explode if they are damaged. If this happens, they can quickly set fire to other material in the waste, such as paper, which may lead to serious incidents that put lives at risk.
“From Monday 16th September, SKDC crews will accept all everyday household batteries, button batteries from watches and alarms, as well as batteries from e-cigarettes – but please no vapes, disposable or otherwise.
“If you live in a flat using communal bins, or a house on our pink/clear bag collections, please continue to take batteries and vapes to supermarkets, shops or the Household Recycling Centre.”
This additional service complements SKDC’s fortnightly general waste collections, which go for disposal at the Energy from Waste plant, to be turned into electricity, as well as the alternate two-weekly clean/dry recyclables (silver bin) and the paper and card (purple lid) collections. Households can also enrol on the green bin garden waste scheme, although there is an additional cost to this.
SKDC’s recycling commitments are helping the council move towards its net-zero targets following declaration of a climate emergency in September 2019.
The Climate Action Strategy, as well as outlining the council’s vision, aims and ambition to mitigate and adapt to climate change, also identifies waste as a resource – and pledges to generate less waste overall across the district.
All electrical items and batteries can continue to be disposed of at Household Waste Recycling Centres or in dedicated battery bins at retailers. If the batteries cannot be removed, for instance from toothbrushes, shavers, chargers and toys, these electricals should also be recycled separately.
Batteries that must be taken to the Household Recycling Centre
• Car batteries
• Laptop battery packs
• Mobile phone batteries
• Power tool batteries
• Lighters
• Remote control units
• Disposable/non disposable vapes
SKDC is working to find a solution to offer the service to all residents in a safe way. Until then, residents can still recycle used batteries by taking them to any shop that sells them or to their local Household Recycling Centre.
Details of Lincolnshire County Council's Household Waste Recycling Centres can be found online at www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/recycling-waste/find-recycling-centre
There is a handy link to find your nearest supermarket/hardware store disposal point: https://bit.ly/batterySKDC
Check you're putting the right thing in the right bin at home by visiting www.southkesteven.gov.uk/whichbin
20 October 2023
Dear Resident,
We are writing to advise you of some changes about to take place in South Kesteven.
From early February 2024, we will be collecting domestic paper and cardboard separately from the rest of the household recycling. There will be lots of information about this in the media and across our social media platforms, as well as in the attached documents.
This is because we want to help residents to recycle as much of their waste as possible and reduce the carbon footprint.
More than 12.5m tonnes of paper and cardboard are used in the UK each year – some 20% of all household waste produced in the UK, with the average family throwing away around six trees-worth of paper every year. If every person in the country recycled just 10% more paper it would save approximately five million trees each year.
Householders currently put paper and cardboard in the silver recycling bin, but because it is mixed with other materials (plastic, glass and metals) it often gets contaminated with small amounts of food waste or liquid left in tins/containers, or broken glass. This makes it almost impossible to recycle efficiently.
This is why we will soon be collecting paper and cardboard in a separate (purple-lidded) bin from the rest of the recycling. The clean, dry paper and cardboard will then be sent directly to a dedicated paper mill which will recycle this into paper-based products. All residents who have a standard sized wheeled bin will receive a new purple-lidded bin.
We want to make this transition as easy as possible, so new purple-lidded bins will be delivered in November and December 2023.
We will be writing to all residents now, and again to let them know when they should begin using the bin, so that we can be sure that all bins are delivered to all households in South Kesteven before we begin to empty them from February 2024.
Please be assured that all other waste collection arrangements will continue as normal.
In future, SKDC will not empty domestic household bins if incorrect items have been left in them. We need to do this to ensure that as much of the waste people have carefully separated for recycling can be recycled. We will be working hard with residents to make sure they can continue to recycle everything they can in the simplest and easiest way.
An informative guide on what to do with waste and recycling at home is available to download from this link.
The Council will NOT be able to take any additional material, known as side waste, (including cardboard) placed next to the bin, whether it is in bags or not. This will need to be disposed of at people’s nearest Household Waste Recycling Centre. Locations of these can be found at www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/recycling-waste or by calling 01522 782070.
Residents can continue putting paper and cardboard in their silver bin until we notify them to start using the purple-lidded bin in February.
Residents without bins who use the sack collections, or who use bins in communal areas, should continue to put paper and card in with recycling on the new silver bin collection weeks only, highlighted grey on the calendar. This is because the paper mill will not currently accept plastic sacks – but we are actively seeking a solution.
The annual collection calendar for the coming year is also available to download from this link, colour coded to show the dates on which different bins should be presented. Collection details can also be found on our website www.southkesteven.gov.uk/bincollectionday.
Visit www.southkesteven.gov.uk/recyclinglist for information on how to cut down on waste.
Please note that additional waste, such as following a house move, can also be taken to any Household Waste Recycling Centre across the County.
Answers to your FAQs can be found online at www.southkesteven.gov.uk/PCFAQ
Our work to recycle your waste more effectively follows successful introduction of the paper and card collections across North Kesteven, Boston Borough, West Lindsey and East Lindsey District Councils. Thank you for helping South Kesteven District Council to recycle as much waste as we possibly can.
Contact Information
Patrick Astill
Communications Specialist
South Kesteven District Council
01476 406236
07970 279738
patrick.astill@southkesteven.gov.uk