People living in Bournemouth are to be provided with larger garden waste bins.

Their 140 litre capacity bins will be exchanged for those accommodating 240 litres in line with those in Christchurch and Poole.

The bin swapping process starts in Bournemouth on 18 January and will take around six weeks to complete. Residents who had the garden waste service in 2020 should put their bins out at the kerbside by 5am on their usual collection day. This needs to be done whether or not the bin has garden waste in it and even if residents normally have an afternoon collection.

The council’s collection crew will empty the bin as usual and then lay it on its side, before a second crew takes off the wheels, stacks it up and puts it in a truck. A delivery truck will then deliver a 240- litre bin to households registered for the 2021 service. Residents are advised to leave it 24 hours before contacting customer services if a replacement bin hasn’t been delivered.

If residents have registered for the 2021 service, they will receive a pack with their collection calendar as well as their 2021 bin sticker. They are advised to only put the bin sticker on the new larger bin once they have received it. The old bins will be emptied without the sticker until then.

Bournemouth residents who are signed up to the 2020 garden waste service will be sent an email detailing the process.

Cllr Mark Anderson, cabinet portfolio holder for Environment, Cleansing and Waste commented,  “If you’ve got green fingers, this is a great way to dispose of your green waste in addition to home composting – and it works towards our sustainable environment objective as the waste that’s collected is turned into a high-quality compost.

“We realise there will be some extra noise early in the morning and throughout the day while the bin swap takes place and want to thank all our residents for their understanding during this time.”

In addition, all customers who signed up to the 2020 garden waste service across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, will be receiving two extra collections from 18 January to 12 February. These collections make up for the missed collections earlier in the year when the service was temporarily suspended during the start of the Covid pandemic. This suspension allowed the council to redeploy staff to essential waste and recycling collections ensuring they could continue.

During the four weeks 18 January to 12 February, residents should present their bins on their usual collection day to receive the two fortnightly collections.