"We are delighted to have already received positive feedback on the decision taken to offer this additional service and will support all our residents to adapt to the new service coming from 1 June.”
Residents who meet the eligibility criteria can now apply for a new collection service for nappies and continence care products, which launches on 1 June alongside other changes to recycling and general waste collections. The Absorbent Hygiene Products (AHP) collection service is being introduced in direct response to residents’ feedback and will support the wider changes to recycling and waste services.
The district-wide changes to recycling collections will allow more materials to be collected at kerbside, including glass bottles and jars, food and drink cartons, such as TetraPak, and plastic film and bags. General waste is moving to three-weekly collections.
The 2025 public consultation on the changes revealed residents’ concerns about the impact of three-weekly general waste collections on households using nappies and continence care products.
In response, the Council has introduced this service to help households that generate higher levels of nappy and continence care products. It will prevent waste building up over the three‑weekly collection cycle and ease worries about odours.
Collections will take place twice in a three-week period, making them more frequent than the current general waste collection.
In addition to absorbent hygiene products, the service will include other personal care items such as disposable gloves, aprons, bedpans and bed pads, feeding tubes and catheter and colostomy bags.
Households can continue using their grey general waste bins for these products if they wish. This service is just one of the options available for those who need extra capacity.
Councillor Tom Cunningham, Cabinet Member for Transformation, the Environment and Customer Services and Deputy Leader at Braintree District Council, said: “We have listened and responded to residents’ concerns, showing that the consultation process really works. We are delighted to have already received positive feedback on the decision taken to offer this additional service and will support all our residents to adapt to the new service coming from 1st June.”
Residents can find out more and apply for the service by going to www.braintree.gov.uk/ahpcollections