A contentious refuse and recycling collection scheme has been introduced across the borough as the council seeks to slash millions from its budget.

Sutton Council ended the weekly service and handed responsibility for collections to waste management company Veolia on Saturday, April 1, in a bid to cut £10.3 million from the public purse.

The new closed-lid policy means homes will be given five bins of varying sizes that will be collected weekly or fortnightly. However, any bags left next to, or on top of the bins will not be taken.

Veolia, which introduced the scheme in Kingston and Croydon in 2015, said the collections will benefit Sutton by providing a “more recycling-led service”.

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But, the waste management service was fined thousands of pounds by Croydon Council for repeatedly missing collections when it was first introduced.

Residents’ reactions to the change have been mixed with many criticising the size of the smaller green recycling box in comments posted on the Sutton Guardian’s Facebook page.

Emma Summers said: “The little green box is an absolute joke. Ours is full after one week and we were away for three days. As well as that I’ve seen my elderly neighbour struggle with the boxes as it was too heavy to carry, my husband ended up having to help her.

“Why couldn’t we have just had another wheelie bin for the plastic, glass and cans? It would have made so much sense.”

But, Jules Walter commented that she felt the policy was well planned out.

She said: “I think it’s all quite well planned out. And for people lucky enough to have more than one green wheelie bin, as long as you label one correctly, you can use it instead of the box.

“It’s made us all really think about what goes where and using the food bin has made quite a difference to the amount of rubbish in our brown bin.”

The Sutton Guardian has asked the council whether complaints about the service have been made since it was introduced.

Are you pleased with the new bin collections? Email: anders.anglesey@london.newsquest.co.uk