NEW students in Swansea have been getting personal service from council recycling officers during their early weeks as residents.
A massive drive is under way to get students on board with the city’s kerbside recycling services.
As part of the campaign to #getitsorted recycling officers are knocking on the doors of residents who may have either put out wrong bags or put the wrong materials in the bags.
Cllr David Hopkins, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Transportation, said: “Students are an important addition to our local communities and we are keen to make them feel welcome and to get them on board with the many different services available to them.
“Dealing with household waste and getting recycling right can take a bit of time to get used to. We are doing what we can to help our new students so they can help us meet our recycling targets.
“Part of that is to visit populated areas and if our officers can see that some mistakes have been made, we’ll knock on their door and give them a few tips so they get it right.”
To help students get on the right track with the household waste services, more than 1,500 recycling kits have been delivered to homes in Brynmill, Uplands, Mount Pleasant and Sandfields.
Recycling teams will also be setting up in Singleton Park over coming weeks so they can hand out recycling kits to students on their way to and from university.
Welsh councils need to recycle 58 per cent of household waste by 2016. Swansea is currently recycling around 56 per cent.
Cllr Hopkins said: “We want everyone, not just students, to do the right thing and dispose of their household waste in the correct way.
“Some homes can improve the amount they are recycling. We also know that there are still some that simply do not bother recycling and put everything in black bags. This has improved since the introduction of our keep it to three scheme, but we can still improve.”
Students can visit the council’s webpages to download recycling guides and collections dates. They can also download the Connect Swansea app which provides information on waste collections and reminds them if it’s a pink or green week.
Visit www.swansea.go.uk/studentrecycling for more information.
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