Berwick-upon-Tweed council has revealed that it has been forced to delay the extension of its garden waste collection scheme due to supply problems experienced by its contracted manufacturer of recycling bins.
High demand from Germany has soaked up local production from the UK and extended lead times as a result
Jonathan Straight, Straight Recycling
The council's head of public protection, Jan Anderson, explained: “Despite ordering the bins in good time we have been let down by the manufacturer and it has become apparent that there is a European shortage of plastic bins due, it is thought, to Eastern European countries swamping the market with massive orders.
“We have tried to find other manufacturers but they are in the same position and their delivery dates vary from September to March 2009.”
“We've considered collecting the waste in compostable bags but due to health and safety risks to employees lifting heavy bags this has had to be ruled out,” she added.
Lead times
Speaking to letsrecycle.com today, Jonathan Straight, the chief executive of one of the UK's leading suppliers of recycling bins to local councils, Straight Recycling, stated that “there is no global shortage of wheeled bin supply.”
However, at the same time he supported Berwick-upon-Tweed's assertion that mainland European demand was having an effect on UK orders.
“High demand from Germany has soaked up local production from the UK and extended lead times as a result,” he said.
Despite this, he offered an assurance that his company would be doing its utmost to ensure it met any orders on schedule.
“As we are not a manufacturer, we are able to meet our customers' requirements on a much more flexible basis than other suppliers and we are using our extensive reach outside of Europe in order to secure additional production for later in 2008 and beyond.”
Subscribe for free