Bin collections – An update

Cheshire East Council want to thank residents for their ongoing patience as they work to get the waste and recycling services back on track.

Councillor David Jefferay, Cheshire East Council cabinet member for environment, sustainability and waste management, said:

“We’d like to thank residents for their ongoing patience as we work to get our waste and recycling services back on track.

“Our recovery and stabilisation plan is helping us to tackle the root causes of the issues we’ve been facing. However, we know that many of you are frustrated with how bin collections went again last week.

“We know that residents simply want their bins to be collected on time, and last week wasn’t the case for people living in some areas of the borough.

“We are sorry that bin collections continue to be affected.

“While some of the issues we’ve been facing require us to do things differently and make changes – quickly – some things will always be harder to control.

“Last week, for example, we faced two vehicle breakdowns, which alone led to around 1,400 bins not being collected, and the knock-on effect is significant. We’re working to reduce the potential of this happening, including by replacing our vehicles after five years rather than seven, so there’s less risk of things going wrong and us needing to carry out expensive repairs.

“Shortages of HGV drivers and loading staff also continues to have a significant impact, resulting in up to 15% of collection rounds being stood down on some occasions, and we appreciate the efforts of our crews who are working together to ensure as many bins as possible are collected.

“Our recruitment drive is continuing and the changes we have made to ensure we remain competitive in a very challenging market and can attract experienced HGV drivers are working.

“We’re doing all we can to return to as many missed collections as possible, but we want to be honest with residents that we won’t be able to get back to them all.

“We are working hard to ensure that this week will present a more positive picture and will continue to keep residents updated.

“If your collection was affected last week, and we haven’t been able to return to your property, you are able to leave up to 3 standard-sized waste bags next to your black household waste bin or silver recycling bin.”