Cabinet member praises waste collection teams for their hard work during the Covid-19 crisis

Councillor Laura Crane, Cheshire East Council cabinet member with responsibility for waste, has thanked waste collection teams for their hard work during the on-going Covid-19 crisis.

All household waste, recycling garden and food waste collections are still operating and have been throughout the whole of the crisis.

Councillor Crane said: “Cheshire East’s waste and recycling colleagues have worked tirelessly to sustain our full service to more than 180,000 homes across the borough throughout this pandemic. Facing unprecedented challenges and delivering a vital service daily, our key workers have become ‘everyday heroes’, uniting our community with their grit, determination and smiles – and for this I thank them.

“This includes new staff and colleagues who joined crews from other areas of the council to ensure Ansa, a Cheshire East Council wholly-owned company, is able to maintain sufficient members of staff to allow the collections to operate in a safe manner and provide an uninterrupted service to residents. These workers joined the crew and retrained, often at short notice, learning new skills very quickly and showing adaptability and drive to work as a team.

“The collection crews are, in some cases, the only friendly face that some isolated residents see. Through this they have demonstrated best working practices and continue to go the extra mile, with a friendly wave or extra assistance to residents where needed. 

“The overwhelming messages of thanks and support from residents has galvanised their resolve.

“Utilising new and redeployed staff meant that some collections took place at different times on scheduled days. Because of this, we asked residents to be patient and only report a missed bin the day after the scheduled day of collection. 

“We also asked them to help new and unfamiliar staff by placing their bins as close to the highway as possible. This assists in situations where some properties may be hard to find. 

“For this help and patience, I would like to thank residents for working with us during this challenging time. 

Following the change in government advice, Cheshire East Council re-opened their eight household waste recycling centres on 11 May. 

Councillor Crane, added: “I am so grateful for the patience shown by residents and our staff during the reopening of our household waste centres. This helped the process of reopening the sites to run smoothly. 

“To make this possible, a large amount of hard work took place in the background to ensure that site staff and residents would be safe. This included traffic management to help ease congestion on routes into the sites and adaption in the layout of the sites, with appropriate signage and additional staff employed to help manage the number of visitors that were expected.

“Through this planning, preparation and the new systems in place, I am pleased that residents have reported very short waiting times and our traffic management system, using alternative days for odd and even number plates, have been well received.” 

Daily updates are issued on our social media pages and full information is available on our Household Waste Recycling Centre page. 

Residents are advised to check the info available on our website before setting out and urged to continue to be patient, only visit the sites when necessary and follow the new regulations and restrictions on site.

Information and reminders about the changes will feature on our social media pages. Follow us on Facebook and on Twitter to keep up-to-date.