DELIVERY of all the new refuse bins, recycling boxes and food waste containers for the new Sort It Plus service in West Somerset starts on Monday (September 26).

At the same time, a leaflet will be delivered with full details of the new services, including any changes in collection days.

Almost 70,000 bins, boxes and containers will be distributed to around 17,000 homes over the next four weeks by Somerset Waste Partnership (SWP) and its contractor May Gurney, ready for Sort It Plus collections to begin in mid-October.

Most West Somerset homes will receive a wheeled refuse bin, an additional recycling box, a food waste container and a kitchen caddy.

SWP emphasises that the new containers should not be used until the start of Sort It Plus in mid-October, as set out in the accompanying leaflet.

Cllr Chris Morgan, West Somerset Council's lead member for the environment and SWP board member, said: "With West Somerset Council's support, this new service has been carefully planned to ensure long term savings for the district's Council Tax payers by cutting landfill costs, while hopefully doubling our recycling rate to over 50 per cent."

Sort It Plus will switch collections of recycling, including new pick-ups of food waste and household plastic bottles, from fortnightly to weekly and rubbish pick-ups from weekly to fortnightly in wheeled bins for suitable homes.

By reducing the rubbish that costs Somerset £8 million a year to send to landfill and boosting recycling, Sort It Plus is expected to save money, cut waste and better protect the environment.

In total, Sort It Plus services will collect ten materials every week from the kerbside - paper, cardboard, food and drink cans, glass bottles and jars, aluminium foil, clothes, shoes and car batteries, plus the new items of food waste and household plastic bottles.

Along with the new containers, householders will receive full information about their use, including collection date information, with any changes to the day of the week on which recycling and refuse will be picked up, and a 'what goes where' guide for the two recycling boxes.

SWP has stressed that it is important not to put household plastic bottles or food waste out for collection until the specified day, or use wheeled bins before the correct vehicles are in service.

Thousands of households in West Somerset responded to news of Sort It Plus with a range of requests to ensure the new collections met their needs.

SWP said more than 3,000 responses were received to request an assisted collection, seek a non-standard rubbish bin or report a damaged recycling box.

This was a far greater proportion than in past roll-outs of Sort It Plus elsewhere in Somerset, matching the higher-than-average turnout of hundreds of residents to roadshows across West Somerset about the new service.

Many people preferred a 140-litre wheeled refuse bin over the standard 180-litre version. SWP said this showed that residents realised how much weekly recycling will reduce their rubbish, making the smaller bin more useful as it is slimmer for storage and easier to move.

Most other forms returned were from householders asking for an assisted collection as they are unable to put out their recycling or rubbish and have no one in their household who can help them.

Cllr Morgan said: "It is good to see that so many residents are ensuring this new service will work for them and match their circumstances.

"As well as being of great benefit to our environment as a whole, Sort It Plus is a significant improvement to West Somerset's waste management."

For information on Sort It Plus visit http://www.somersetwaste.gov.uk">www.somersetwaste.gov.uk or call Somerset Waste Partnership on 01823 625700.