Bin calendars go digital in Dispatch district from December

In Nottingham there are 20 different waste collection rounds for the council’s bin lorries, which means there are 20 different bin calendars for residents.

In the past, these bin calendars have been printed, sorted by postcode and posted to residents’ homes.

This year, to make budget savings and be more environmentally friendly, the council is asking people to download their bin calendar, either to print at home or save to their phone or tablet.

The new bin calendars, for December 1 onwards, are now available to download here, where residents can also sign up for free bin calendar reminder emails each week.

The change is made simpler due to residents’ bin collection days remaining the same, and also because Christmas Day and Boxing Day fall on a Saturday and Sunday this year, meaning no changes to bin collections will be needed during the festive period in 2021.

Coun Sally Langford, portfolio holder for energy, environment and waste services, said: “It’s overdue that our bin calendars go paperless, given that we know the vast majority of people can access them online.

“Not printing a bin calendar helps to save money which can be re-invested into other important public services.

"It also supports the environment and our goal to be carbon neutral by 2028. Not printing 130,000 bin calendars will save trees and carbon emissions as we continue to cut down on unnecessary printed materials.

“But it’s important to remember that there are still people who do not have digital access, and we’re making sure that they can still get a printed version if they need one.”

Help is available for those who do not have digital access.

They can either drop into their local library where the staff will download and print their calendar for free, or call the main council switch board on 0115 9155555 to request a calendar is posted to them.

Additionally, the council offers an ‘assisted pull out scheme’ to provide support to anyone who is unable to put their bin out for collection due to being elderly/frail, medical reasons or disability.

Under this scheme residents do not even need to know their bin collection day, as crews will pull the bins out for them.