NEW plastic and cardboard recycling collections are to start in Ulverston town centre. 

Residents in these areas will start receiving their new blue bag for storing plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays, as well as cans, from next week, starting Monday, 22 February. 

An information leaflet about which container should be used for which material will also be delivered at the same time as the blue bags.

People in Ulverston can start using the new blue bag for storing plastic and cans as soon as they receive it and the blue bag will be picked up, along with the blue boxes and green waste, on the next recycling collection date on their calendars. 

When they start using the blue bag for plastic and cans, one of the existing blue boxes will then be used for cardboard and paper, with the other being used just for glass. 

The council’s website has useful guides and videos about which container to use for which recycling materials and what happens to your plastic after collection: www.southlakeland.gov.uk/bins-and-recycling 

This is the second phase of an expansion of kerbside collections that will eventually take in the whole district by the end of 2016. 

The expansion of the plastic and cardboard collections has been made possible by the introduction of changes to bin collection days for thousands of residents across the district, that started in areas served by the Kendal in September. 

The second phase of the collection day changes introduced new rounds for homes served by the Ulverston depot in November 2015. 

The changes to collection days are being made to make sure all the bin rounds are operating as efficiently as possible. 

Councillor Sue Sanderson, SLDC’s portfolio holder for Environment and People, said: “The changes to collection days mean we now the capacity and efficiency built-in to the new rounds to allow us to collect more materials from the kerbside. 

“We realise that in some areas the new collection rounds have taken a while to settle down and we appreciate residents’ patience if they have experienced problems, but we hope that they appreciate that now these new rounds are in place we can start to offer an expanded collection service to include plastic and card, which is something that residents have told us they really want. 

“I’m delighted that residents in Ulverston will soon be getting their new blue bags and will be able to have their plastic and cardboard recycling picked up as part of our service. 

"The rest of the district will be moved on to plastic and cardboard in phases during 2016 and we are on track to have everyone getting the service by our deadline of the end of the year. 

“This is a key step in our Council Plan commitment to increase the range of recyclables that we collect from the kerbside as we look to increase the amount of household waste sent for recycling from the current 43 per cent to our target of 50 per cent.’’