Archive for category: General News

West Northamptonshire Council introduces enhanced Report It functionality in the Council app, enabling a seamless and efficient way to interact with the council, report issues and stay connected with the local community on the go.

The app is the go-to resource for West Northamptonshire residents, providing easy access to essential council services and timely local news. Now, with the addition of the Report It features, residents can report incidents ranging from fly tipping and graffiti to abandoned trolleys and street cleansing, all from the convenience of their mobile devices.

Cllr Mike Hallam, Cabinet Member for Corporate Services and HR, said:

“We’re thrilled to introduce the Report It feature to our West Northamptonshire Council App. It’s all about making life simpler for our residents and keeping our community connected and informed.

“We want you to have the tools you need to stay in the know, report issues, and actively contribute to our vibrant community. The enhancement of the Report It functionality takes this commitment a step further, empowering you to report incidents quickly and conveniently without the need to phone us.”

The app offers a host of functional features designed to enhance residents’ experience allowing you to access council services near your location. Whether you’re looking for the nearest council offices, car parks, food banks, libraries, parks or other essential local services, such as the network of Welcoming Spaces, the information is just a few taps away.

Cllr Phil Larratt, WNC Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport, Highways and Waste, added: “This app has been crafted to cater to the diverse needs of our residents, providing them with a one-stop solution to easily access local services, news, and real-time updates. Whether it’s receiving reminders for bin collection schedules, so you never forget to put your bins out, accessing our recycling guidelines, making it easier for you to make sustainable choices, or receiving alerts about any potential disruptions to collections, the app has it all.”

Download or update the West Northamptonshire Council App from your device’s app store to explore the new functionality. The app is continuously being developed, and we will be adding new features as we progress.

West Northamptonshire Council has launched a new communications campaign to encourage residents across the area to recycle their electricals.

HypnoCat, the Recycle Your Electricals pink fluffy cat, will be hypnotising residents to recycle their electricals and he will appear in social media advertising across Northampton.

The project will encourage residents to recycle small domestic electrical items, including toasters, kettles, sandwich makers, hairdryers, irons and other items alongside their household collections.  Small items of waste electrical equipment, which will fit inside a carrier bag should be placed on top of your domestic waste bin as follows:

• Daventry area residents: on top of the black general waste bin
• Northampton area residents: on top of the blue-lidded recycling bin
• South Northamptonshire area residents: on top of either bin
• Residents can recycle their single-use vapes at Household Waste Recycling Centres or return them to where they purchased them from. Please do not place them with your household waste collection.

This is one of over 40 UK projects funded by Material Focus, the not for profit organisation leading the Recycle Your Electricals campaign who have provided £20,000 worth of funding.  This will lead the way in West Northamptonshire, joining other projects around the country in making it easier for 10 million UK residents to recycle their electricals.

The aim of the nationwide Electricals Recycling Fund is to significantly reduce e-waste and its environmental impact by making it easier for consumers to recycle their electricals. The projects that have been funded by Material Focus include a variety of recycling methods, from kerbside collections to more drop-off points in schools, community centres, and bring banks. Overall there will be over 400 new collection points plus kerbside collections for 5.5 million UK residents.

Recycle Your Electricals research has shown that 80% of consumers believe recycling is a good thing, and many of us already recycle things like paper and plastic. Research has also shown that most of us have unwanted electricals we want to get rid of, even if it’s just a drawer of cables – millions of      electrical items are hoarded in UK homes. And yet 39% of people bin electricals rather than recycle them because they think it’s simply too hard to recycle. The aim of these projects is to overcome these issues by making it easier to recycle electricals.

Cllr Phil Larratt, Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport, Highways and Waste, said: “With technology evolving at such a fast pace these days, older electrical and electronic items are often made redundant, so waste electrical and electronic equipment is the UK’s fastest growing waste stream.

“While they might have been replaced by the latest model, many of these items contain valuable plastics and metals which can be recycled.   The good news is that it couldn’t be easier to recycle these items via your kerbside collection service. Using the service not only helps the environment, but it also reduces the risk of fires in our bin trucks and waste facilities.”

“We are thrilled to support the new project from West Northamptonshire Council that addresses the pressing issue of e-waste.” said Scott Butler, Executive Director of Material Focus. “By investing in improved collection and drop-off services and we are taking a significant step towards creating a more sustainable future by making it easier for 10 million more people to recycle their electricals.” More information about recycling electrical items and batteries can be found at www.westnorthants.gov.uk/weeerecycle and www.recycleyourelectricals.org.uk