Homes across the borough will start to take delivery of their new wheelie bins from Tuesday, 3 May 2016. Residents are reminded not to use the bins until the new service starts.

More than 98,000 addresses will receive the new bins and delivery will take place over the whole of the month. Wheelie bins will be sealed when they are delivered as a reminder to householders not to use them until the week before the first collection.

They will also come with a leaflet explaining more about how the bins should be used and a stencil so residents can mark their bins with their house numbers.

From 6 June 2016, most households in the borough will use a blue wheelie bin for their mixed recycling and a black wheelie bin for their rubbish. The bins will be collected on alternate weeks with recycling picked up one week and rubbish the next.

Residents in Southall, some parts of north Greenford and Alperton already use a black wheelie bin for their rubbish. They will keep these and receive an additional blue one for their mixed recycling.

Green food waste bins will continue to be collected every week. Residents that require a replacement food waste bin can order one free of charge at www.ealing.gov.uk/reportit

The last weekly rubbish and recycling collection using the old green boxes, white sacks and black bags will take place during the week commencing 30 May 2016.

Monday, 30 May is a bank holiday, but collections will take place normally this week with no change to dates to help with the switch over in the following week.

Residents moving to an alternate weekly collection were sent a letter last month with details of their new arrangements and a personalised calendar showing which bin should be presented for collection on which week. Residents can also sign up for free SMS reminders for the first three months of the new service.

Keith Townsend, executive director environment and customer services, said: “The new bins are going to make it a lot easier for people to recycle and will keep our streets cleaner by cutting down on the number of black bags ripped open by foxes and by preventing recycling being blown around the street from open containers on windy days.

“Making sure that everyone has their new bins in time for the service change on 6 June is a huge operation and it will take most of May to deliver to everyone. When residents receive their new bins we are asking them to keep them sealed until the week commencing 30 May, because they won’t be collected or emptied before the week starting 6 June.”