Kerbside collections of small electrical items, textiles and batteries – suspended

Released on March 31, 2020

South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils have suspended their kerbside service collecting small electrical items, batteries and textiles for recycling.

This is because the recycling centres for these items are unable to accept them for processing as staff shortages due to illness and social distancing has meant work at these centres cannot continue as it did before the Coronavirus pandemic.

Unfortunately, the councils do not have storage for such items and so cannot collect them at this time.

They have issued a warning to residents; Please do NOT put unwanted or broken electrical items or batteries in the general refuse (rubbish) or recycling as they can cause a fire in the bin trucks.

A fire in the truck could endanger the lives of bin crews and others nearby. A fire could also lead to the loss of a bin truck and less of a service at a time when the waste service is needed by everyone.

Cllr David Rouane, Cabinet Member for Housing and Environment at South Oxfordshire District Council, said: “We are sorry for this temporary stopping of the service and would thank people for their cooperation at this time. Please keep these items at home and as soon as we can start collecting textiles, batteries and small electrical items for recycling again we will let people know via facebook and twitter.”

Cllr Jenny Hannaby, Cabinet Member for Housing and Environment at Vale of White Horse District Council, said: “Textiles are a valuable resource for our charity partners. If residents can store them for the time being then please do so, as 100 per cent of the clothes collected from kerbside collections are recycled, no matter the quality.”

For information on changes to council services at this time please see:

southoxon.gov.uk/covid19

whitehorsedc.gov.uk/covid19