Refuse and recycling collections in Torfaen will be blitzed this week in a bid to catch up on a backlog of collections running into tens of thousands.
The worst snow and freezing weather for 30 years has caused widespread disruption to collections since Christmas but with most of the snow thawing over the weekend, Torfaen Council is planning a catch up.
Limited collections were carried out during the freeze but these efforts were hampered by the prolonged, unprecedented conditions.
The Council now aims to carry out collections as normal this week and is asking residents to put out their black and green bins and black recycling boxes. Any bags of side waste will also be collected.
Refuse vehicles and transit vans will be used to help catch up on the backlog of recycling but any materials collected in this way will be recycled.
A Council spokesman said: "Sustained severe weather and dangerous conditions have caused massive disruption. Windows of opportunity to pick up waste have been very small making it impossible to catch up.
"We could not send out vehicles in icy weather because the large vehicles would have been hard to manoeuvre, posing a risk to the crew, residents, cars and property.
"We would like to thank residents for their patience and support through this period and we apologise for any inconvenience caused."
The Council is asking residents to try to make their bins accessible by removing any remaining snow and ice.
"We are also urging residents to be helpful neighbours and assist any elderly or vulnerable people with their bins if they need to move them into an area for collection," said the spokesman.