The Council's blue lidded wheeled bin recycling collection service will be rolled out to the rest of the borough during February and March 2011.   For detailed information and to see when your area will be covered, follow the link below: 

http://www.sandwell.gov.uk/info/10093/recycling-collections/603/blue_lid_recycling 

This fortnightly service replaces the weekly green box and green bag collections for homes.  In the meantime, if you have the green box or bag recycling collection you can now put out the following extra materials:  plastic packaging, cardboard, card food and drinks cartons while you wait for your new wheeled bin to be delivered.

One of the aims of the Council’s Waste Improvement Plan is to provide a recycling collection to all homes in the borough.  

High rise blocks, however will not be able to have the same recycling collection as a standard house.   Prior to setting up recycling collection for high rise blocks, each one will be visited and discussions held with residents in order to establish a suitable recycling collection by 2013.

To meet current building regulations you need 270mm of mineral wool insulation. 100mm between the ceiling joists and 170mm laid over the joists.

It is more expensive to heat the whole house rather than just one or two rooms. However, consideration needs to be given to the fact that when you open a door to another unheated room, you will lose some heat. You may therefore find it is difficult to maintain a constant temperature, and therefore have the heating set at a higher level than necessary.

If you have a gas wet central heating system, the most efficient way of achieving a comfortable temperature right through the house is by using thermostatic valves located on the radiators. They work by sensing the air temperature in the room and adjusting the heat accordingly, thus saving money and cutting CO2 emissions. Heat the rooms you use most, rather than the whole house.

It is recommended to set your thermostat to 18°C and keeping half the house (possibly the upstairs) about three degrees lower than the main living rooms.

Bio fuel is a fuel that is sourced from non-fossilised organisms or from by-products of these organisms. For example, bio-diesel can be made from vegetable oils or animal fats.

Bio fuels have an enormous environmental benefit; they can help reduce the levels of toxins in our air and water. They can help reduce the advance of global warming.

Not all car engines are suitable for running on bio-diesel! The effects of putting bio-diesel into a non-suitable engine range from the engine simply not starting to possible destruction of your engine.

Petrol engines are not suitable for bio-diesel or vegetable oil fuel! If you have a petrol engine then you may be able to use bio- ethanol fuel (some filling stations now offer blends of petrol and bio-ethanol).

Most of the major car manufacturers do not officially support the use of bio-fuels in their cars and if you use bio-diesel (and especially SVO or WVO) then you may invalidate your cars' manufacturers warranty.

Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) have been introduced to help improve the energy efficiency of buildings.

If you are buying or selling a home you now need a certificate by law. EPCs are required whenever a building is built, sold or rented out. The certificate provides 'A' to 'G' ratings for the building, with 'A' being the most energy efficient and 'G' being the least, with the average up to now being 'D'.

Accredited energy assessors produce EPCs alongside an associated report which suggests improvements to make a building more energy efficient.