The recycling service was suspended at the start of lockdown to allow St Helens Borough Council to prioritise household and medical waste collections as it faced increased pressure on staff resources.

Measured in tonnage, prior to lockdown and the service being suspended the council normally collected 281 tonnes per week, based on an average four-week collection period.

When it was announced that the service would be making phased return residents were encouraged to store clean recycling if they could, and to put out any excess waste once the service returned.

During the week of 25th May, the first week of the phased return, tonnage collected was 155.36 tonnes – from one half of the borough.

Then on the week of 1st June, the second week back, 256.80 tonnes were collected from the other half of the borough.

The service returned to normal on the week of 8th June, which saw crews collect 404.22 tonnes from across the whole borough.

And in the week of 15th June 341.96 tonnes were collected.

Labour Councillor Andy Bowden, St Helens Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Environmental Services, said:

“These figures show that recycling really is important to our community. We are extremely grateful to our crews for their hard work and to residents for their patience, understanding and cooperation during this time and as the service resumed.”