In Flintshire, north Wales, the council has announced that it will step up enforcement on side waste, after pausing this when the pandemic hit the country in March 2020.
Meanwhile, in Merton, south-west London, the authority has decided to suspend recycling collections in some block of flats “due to the national HGV driver shortage caused by Brexit and Covid-19”.
This means an unnamed number of flats will see all recycling and residual waste collected together by Veolia and sent to Viridor’s Beddington energy from waste plant.
Flintshire
In March 2020, Flintshire suspended checks on side waste due to the health and safety risks posed to enforcement teams.
The council announced earlier this year that inspections would be re-introduced in September (see letsrecycle.com story).
The unitary authority says it collected an additional 3,000 tonnes of residual waste from residential properties during the 18-month suspension, a 12% increase. The council says this has had a negative impact on its recycling performance.
The council’s in-house crews have now been instructed not to collect extra waste, and residents will face enforcement action as a “last resort”.
A statement from Flintshire said: “The council will be monitoring collections and advising residents how they can recycle more, and reduce the amount of waste put out for disposal. As a last resort where residents regularly put out too much and have not taken advice on recycling, then the council may take enforcement action”.
Where residents regularly put out too much and have not taken advice on recycling, then the council may take enforcement action
Flintshire council
System
Flintshire, which serves around 156,000 residents, says most households should be able to fit their residual waste into their wheelie bin, particularly if they are making use of the kerbside recycling collection service.
Flintshire County Council collects dry recycling on a weekly basis in four containers: a blue box for mixed glass; a blue bag for paper and cardboard; a white or grey sack for metal tins and cans; and a white or grey sack for plastic bottles.
Food waste is collected weekly from a 23-litre kerbside caddy, and the council provides residents with biobag liners, with more available on request.
Residual waste is collected fortnightly.
Merton
Elsewhere, Merton announced yesterday that “due to the national HGV driver shortage caused by Brexit and Covid-19”, it has taken the decision with its waste contractor Veolia to temporarily merge recycling and rubbish collections at some blocks of flats.
The council said this is always a last resort and said all bins will still be emptied as usual.
“We would stress that this only affects those living in flats with communal bin areas,” the council added.
Merton serves around 225,000 residents and around 40% of its housing stock is flats, but not all of them will be impacted by the change.
A statement from the council said: “The driver shortage has left many councils unable to find enough drivers to complete usual collections, and the council has plans in place to maintain services in the event of issues like this. Merging recycling and rubbish collections in just a few areas allows us to ensure bins are still emptied and taken away. We are not suspending any of our collection services, and this change is only temporary.
“We’re working closely with Veolia – who are running additional recruitment campaigns here to find drivers – and neighbouring boroughs to minimise the impact on collections.”
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