Rhondda Cynon Taf county borough council has today (November 29) suspended its collection of refuse and recycling in response to the onset of snow and freezing conditions across the UK.
While the snowfall as thus far been sporadic, the Met Office today announced severe weather warnings for northern and eastern England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, with the cold and snow expected to affect large parts of the UK over the coming week.
In response to the plummeting temperatures across Wales, Rhondda Cynon Taf took the option to suspend this week's collections, with the local authority stating that residents should retain their waste until next week.
A statement said: “Following Friday's heavy snowfall council staff have worked throughout the weekend to ensure that the road network remains clear for motorists.
“However, due to the condition of some side streets and pavements, and as the weather forecast states that the temperature is unlikely to change, the decision has been taken not to collect refuse or recycling today.”
Rhondda said refuse and recycling staff would be redeployed to help salt and clear areas such as residential homes, town centres and other key areas. As well as being placed on standby to help grit other areas of the local authority.
Freezing
Elsewhere, Warrington borough council issued a warning to residents over the freezing of the green garden waste bins. The local authority was responding to residents queries about the contents of the bins freezing due to the icy conditions.
A statement released by the council's waste management team said: “Our advice is to bear with us and please do not pour hot water into your bin as it will quickly refreeze and compound the problem. Please do not hit your bin either as this will likely damage it and if at all possible store your bin in a warmer spot for example in a shed or garage or next to your house.”
Chorley borough council has said on its website that waste collections are being carried out today although it is having “one or two problems with frozen bins”. Suffolk county council has made moves to assure residents that its 18 household waste and recycling centres are still open despite the inclement weather.
Local authorities are embracing social media to alert residents to the impact of the inclement weather, with large numbers of councils turning to Twitter to issue hourly updates of the affect of the snow on service provisions.
For example, Cherwell district council intends to keep householders up-to-date with any changes to its recycling service through its Twitter account 'CherwellRecycle' (@CherwellRecycle).
Councillor George Reynolds, portfolio holder for environment, recreation and health, said: “This is a fantastic facility which we think will save residents a great deal of stress. Obviously when there is bad weather people want to find out whether their recycling and refuse will be collected.
“This often leads to our switchboard being inundated with calls at a time when the service is under pressure due to staff being unable to make it to work. But with our Twitter account there is no need for people to phone us for those details, all they need do is keep an eye on our tweets.”
North East
The impact of the cold weather was particularly felt in Newcastle, where the North East Recycling Forum annual conference 2010 had to be called off today. Around 120 delegates from around the region had been due to attend.
The forum's executive is due to meet soon to decide whether the event will be rescheduled for early in the New Year.
Impact
Heavy snowfall seriously impeded collections across the UK earlier this year, with local authorities having to suspend or amend services in response to hazardous conditions (see letsrecycle.com story).
However, today, the Local Government Association today issued a statement claiming that, despite “swingeing” cuts to local authority budgets, councils had made the “most thorough preparations ever” to deal with the onset of the snow and icy conditions.
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