Councils drafting in staff to aid collections, LARAC says

Cathy Cook also warned that disruption to council collections due to Covid-19 has “worsened” in the past fortnight.

And, the National Association of Waste Disposal Officers (NAWDO) said it was continuing to support its members throughout this challenging period.

LARAC is the organisation which represents local authority recycling officers and those working in similar or related posts.

With rising levels of infections leading to significant staff absences, many councils across the country have had to suspend or delay some kerbside collections (see letsrecycle.com story).

While Ms Cook noted LARAC’s member authorities were experiencing “different levels” of disruption, she said some were seeing absence rates “as high as 25%”.

This has led to the cancellation of some services and staff being drafted in from elsewhere.

LARAC says it will survey its members this week to obtain up-to-date information on the impact of Covid-enforced absences on local councils.

Scaling back

Ms Cook told letsreycle.com: “The suspension of garden waste collections over the winter period by some councils is helping to provide resilience in these situations.

“However, some are monitoring absence levels this week and warning that other collections may have to be scaled back or suspended if the situation worsens.”

Ms Cook said the worst affected councils were “battling” competition for HGV drivers from haulage firms and delivery companies, particularly in busy transport corridors, due to the well-publicised national shortage.

LARAC announced in November that Ms Cook was to become its 11^th chair from the start of 2022, taking over from Carole Taylor (see letsrecycle.com story).

Support

Elsewhere, NAWDO, the network for senior waste managers at local authorities with a statutory responsibility for waste disposal, said it would work with other local authority waste organisations to ensure priority services remained operational.

NAWDO is continuing to support its waste disposal authority members through the current period

– NAWDO spokesperson

NAWDO also said the HGV driver shortage had exacerbated difficulties.

A spokesperson told letsrecycle.com: “In line with many other sectors, local authority waste collection and treatment services have been impacted by the increased number of Covid infections and the subsequent requirements for self-isolation.

“This challenge comes hot on the heels of the recent HGV driver shortages that the UK has experienced in the last few months and has impacted different parts of the country to different extents over the festive period and looks set to continue to do so into the early part of 2022.

“NAWDO is continuing to support its waste disposal authority members through the current period, working with other waste local authority networks and central government to ensure priority services remain operational.”