Council encouraged by response to community waste days

Derby City Council says it has collected more than 28 tonnes of rubbish and four truckloads of donations since taking its recycling services into the community.

Over the past few months, the authority has set out on a program aimed at taking its waste truck, furniture lorry and sorting team to every ward across the city twice in 2026.

Residents have been invited to drop off bulky furniture, clothes and unwanted items at several Community Waste Days, aimed at reducing fly-tipping and making waste disposal more accessible.

Councillor Ndukwe Onuoha, who has led the initiative in his role as cabinet member for streetpride, public safety and leisure, said he had been pleased with the response.

"It's been a success, we've been across so many wards and there's been a great take-up from residents," he told the BBC.

Speaking at the council’s seventh event, Onuoha said the initiative had been "enthusiastically received" having collected another 4.52 tonnes of waste in Chaddesden.

"We're doing this because residents have bulky waste that they want to get rid of and every little helps," he said.

"Not everyone has a car, not everyone has the opportunity or are able to, because of their disability, to go to the tip," he added.

The scheme is also aimed at reducing fly-tipping.

According to Defra, there were 100,462 fly-tipping incidents recorded across the East Midlands in the financial year 2024-25.

In Derby, 6,477 of those were reported and 1,884 of those involved a small van load or more.

Onuoha thanked the Waste Day sorting team, who recovered useful donations and took them to the reuse shop at Raynesway HWRC.

He also explained why a full calendar of future events has not been made public.

"We don't want people to just dump things in anticipation. Residents get a letter through their door a week before, so that they know where we're going to be and what they can bring out," he said.

He said future events would be arranged to "coincide with patterns" of waste disposal, giving the example of a recent event in Markworth and New Zealand, purposefully scheduled for when students were moving out of their accommodation for the summer.

Robert Chadwick received a council leaflet through his door days before the Chaddesden event, and brought along old furniture and clothing.

"It's a really good idea because you have to book to go into the tip and it's not always convenient. We knew this was coming so we got our stuff together," he said.

Julie Smith made full use of service, carrying plant pots, cat baskets, a wardrobe and a sofa into her local car park.

"It's absolutely fantastic - they're literally here to get rid of people's rubbish instead of causing more fly tipping and I love it," said Smith.

Tanya Nevin said the convenience of the event was "perfect" and was pleased to see some of her children's old toys being selected for reuse by the sorting team.

"It seems a shame just to dump them in the tip, especially when they've got lots of life left in them, so it's great to reuse things," she said.

Listen to BBC Radio Derby on Sounds and follow BBC Derby on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.