New waste truck fleet signals start of changes to rubbish collections

The new fleet - which is being paid for partly by the sale of the old fleet - consists of 18 26-tonne rear end loading vehicles and one smaller 16-tonne truck which will be used to access isolated properties and narrow lanes.

Their introduction marks the end of the district’s weekly collection of landfill waste and the start of a fortnightly service.

The council says the new trucks ‘all meet the most up to date European emission standards and will deliver significant environmental benefits as well as substantial savings in fuel consumption.’

Council cabinet member for waste and recycling Philip Circus said:“It is good that our ageing and expensive to maintain fleet of vehicles has been replaced by these new and much more economical and environmentally friendly refuse trucks.

“The team have worked very hard throughout the procurement process to ensure we have obtained the best value for our residents and businesses.

“Bins can continue to be collected from their existing collection points where it is safe and sensible to do so. However, if space is limited please put your bin out safely and as close to your previous normal collection point as is practicable.

“We have put in place all we can to ensure that the new collections go smoothly but we recognise that there may be some difficulties in a few areas.

“Should there be any teething troubles, we will work as swiftly as possible to resolve them and our new rear end loading vehicles will help us to achieve this.”

The council is now asking people to position their bins with their handles facing towards the road and not away from the road and they are urging residents to ensure that their bins are in place for collection by 6am on the allocated collection day.

The changes are being rolled out across the district over a 10 week period starting today.

The council maintains there will still be a weekly collection service with recycling collected one week, and household waste collected the same day the following week. The garden waste collection service will continue on a fortnightly basis.

People can check their new collection dates at www.horsham.gov.uk/bincalendar.