Doncaster downplays missed bin penalty for SITA

Doncaster council has downplayed a £47,831 penalty issued to its waste collection contractor SITA UK for missed bin collections from October 2009 to August 2010.

The South Yorkshire local authority this week (October 11) stressed that missed bin collections – which peaked during the harsh winter weather – only accounted for 0.1% of the collections undertaken by SITA over this period.

And, SITA UK told letsrecycle.com that financial penalties relating to ‘persistent performance failures' were a standard element of collection contract arrangements.

The extent of missed collections emerged in a report presented to the council's Safer, strong and sustainable communities overview and scrutiny panel at the end of last month. The report showed that SITA UK had missed collections of 13,151 residual, recycling and green bins over the 10 month period.

As a result, Doncaster issued first notices to SITA UK regarding each missed collection and followed this up with 2,209 second notices in cases where bins were still not collected. The second notices included a financial penalty for SITA, which meant it was not paid £47,831 out of its contractual arrangement with the council.

Local media was quick to criticise the situation, with The Doncaster Free Press and The Star last week stating that there had been a “huge toll of missed collections” and quoting councillors as being highly critical of the waste service.

However, commenting on the situation, a spokesman for Doncaster council told letsrecycle.com: “It seems like a lot of money and it obviously is as the money has now not been paid to them [SITA UK]. But it is 0.1% of collections missed in the 10 months described in the report. They do one million collections of various bins and boxes every month.”

In total, between October 2009 and August, the council received 508 complaints about bin collections and 13 compliments.

And, the report indicates that the majority of missed residual waste collections occurred around Christmas “where collection day changes can cause confusion” and in January 2010 – which Doncaster highlighted as a period of “bad weather”. January also proved problematic for dry recycling collections, with the most missed collections occurring in this month.

SITA UK

SITA UK has been working with the council since 1990 and, in June 2009, it was awarded a six year extension to its kerbside collection service. This contract, which commenced on October 5 2009, saw SITA UK also extend its collections to include flats and multi-occupancy buildings.

A spokesman for SITA UK echoed the council's assertion that the collections equate to just 0.1% of overall collections during this period and said it was pleased with the response to its service since the contract extension was granted.

He said: “Despite a large number of complaints in January due to bad weather, we have overseen a reduction in the number of missed collections coupled with an increase in participation in recycling services and a 5% rise in the rate of recycling. We are confident that our partnership with Doncaster will continue to deliver quality services to Doncaster residents.”