A new food waste collection service is being introduced across Swindon on Monday – here’s all you need to know.

Different recycling containers – food waste caddies and weighted bags – have been delivered around the town but are not to be used until the first collection day after Monday, November 27.

Report a missed delivery if you think yours has not arrived.

People living in properties with a communal bin store will not be affected by this change, and garden waste collections remain the same.

All households who are affected should have received a letter with information about their new collection day.

Anyone unsure of it can use the postcode look-up tool on the swindon.gov.uk website.

Any household with more than two weeks between their wheelie bin collections due to this changeover should place excess waste in a refuse bag next to that bin on the first new collection date between November 27 and December 8.

Recycling should be separated as follows:

-General waste goes in the existing black wheelie bin or blue bags

-Recyclable plastic and metal go in the new weighted bag

-Food waste goes in the large outdoor food waste bin

-Recyclable paper and card go in an existing recycling box

-Recyclable glass goes in a separate existing recycling box

Swindon Advertiser: A guide to how refuse and recycling collection works in Swindon after November 27A guide to how refuse and recycling collection works in Swindon after November 27 (Image: Swindon Borough Council)

The Waste Wizard tool on Swindon Borough Council’s website offers advice on what can and cannot be recycled, and which container to place it in.

Washing and squashing recyclable material helps more of it to fit into the containers.

Just make sure the bottle or can is completely empty, give it a quick rinse, then squash it into the container using hands or feet, and put the container lid back on if there is one.

Any extra recycling that does not fit can go into a separate sturdy container.

Plastic recycling placed in a single use plastic bag after November 27 will not be collected.

Food waste should be transferred into an indoor caddy which, when full, can be emptied into the outdoor caddy that should then be placed near the public highway by 6.30am on the property’s collection day each week.

The outdoor caddies can be locked by lifting the handle up to prevent paws getting in.

Food leftovers, eggs, teabags, cooking oil, bones from meat/poultry/fish go in the caddy. Food packaging, pet bedding, and garden or animal waste do not.