Manchester downplays AWC teething troubles

A group of opposition Manchester city councillors have expressed their dismay over the mismanagement of the roll-out of the citys new alternate weekly waste and recycling collection system, following reports of rubbish piling up in the streets.

The problems were labeled teething troubles by the city council, which insisted on Friday (July 15) that the majority of collections had gone smoothly and that early indications were that recycling rates had already increased.

But, it acknowledged that waste had gone uncollected in some areas, and outlined a range of measures, such as additional collection crews and a dedicated call centre team, which were being used to address the situation. Manchesters collections are run by services company Enterprise, under a 14-year deal which began in 2008.

The move to alternate weekly collections began in the south of the city last month, and is now underway for North Manchester as part of a waste services overhaul which the council hopes will save it 12 million over the next three years (see letsrecycle.com story).

Residual waste and recyclables are being collected on alternate weeks, on the same day, while the frequency of food waste collections is increasing from fortnightly to weekly. This has been accompanied by the introduction of new communal bins for more densely-populated areas.

However, the Manchester Evening News has detailed claims from local residents that they have been unable to access the bins due to them being in locked alleyways. Meanwhile, others told the newspaper that whole streets had seen their collections missed, with one branding the situation chaos.

And, at a meeting of the councils cabinet last week (July 12), five Liberal Democrat councillors moved a motion stating the Council noteswith dismay the difficulties being experienced by local residents over the mismanagement of the roll-out of fortnightly bin collections.

Measures

To address the issues, the city council has introduced measures including:
Extra crews going to out to pick up uncollected waste and delivered the additional recycling bins requested by residents;
Additional collection crews being used temporarily support the current roll-out in the North of the city, in light of residents concerns over how the changes were introduced in South Manchester;
Using teams of canvassers to knock on doors to make sure residents know their new collection dates and understand the new service;
Adding another 20 members of staff from elsewhere in the council to join a dedicated team answering phone calls from concerned members of the public and make sure problems they report are dealt with.

The council also said that, where communal bins were being introduced it was talking to residents at several locations to make sure the new containers were used correctly and fit in with what communities want in their neighbourhoods.

Taking action

Councillor Nigel Murphy, executive member for the environment, acknowledged that residents had not received the service they were used to or expected, apologised for the situation and claimed the council was taking action to rectify problems and learning from our mistakes.

“Since the changes we’ve made more than one and half million collections. The majority of these have gone smoothly but with a change on this scale there have unfortunately been teething troubles, and it’s important than anyone who does experience these gets in touch with us so we can address them, he said.

“It’s important we get this right and I am happy to meet residents face to face to discuss any ongoing concerns.”