Supply problems hit Lincoln waste and recycling scheme

The city's 37,000 households had been keenly awaiting delivery of their new wheeled bins from Monday, with a twin-bin alternate weekly system due to replace black bags and recycling boxes.

” We are disappointed that our supplier has been unable to meet its commitment to deliver our bins at the times agreed. “
– Tony Gray, Lincoln CC
The city council revealed that its supplier of wheeled bins, Leeds-based Straight plc, had failed to meet an agreed timetable to supply the 75,000 140-litre and 240-litre bins. Lincoln officers learned that their bins wouldn't be supplied on time just days before the planned start of the roll out.

Officers have now written to thousands of homes to explain that the roll-out of the new bins is being put back, and they believe the delay can be kept to a minimum of about four weeks.

Production of the bins has switched from Straight's original subcontractors, Bradford and Greece-based Helisi, to Nottingham firm Sankey.

Lincoln's head of environmental sustainability, Tony Gray, said: “We are disappointed that our supplier has been unable to meet its commitment to deliver our bins at the times agreed. However, we have taken prompt action to put things right and the project is now back on track, with the impact on residents being limited to a four week delay.”

ESPO
Straight originally won the contract to supply Lincoln's bins through an on-line tender process as part of a larger contract let by the Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation.

The company agreed back in May to provide grey bins for non-recyclable refuse and brown bins for dry recyclable materials excluding glass. Inner city homes would be given 140-litre bins, while suburban households with more space available for storage would receive 240-litre bins.

But, problems with Straight's supplier of wheeled bins saw the company revealing it could not meet its agreed commitment.

Ian Taylor, environment promotions manager at Lincoln, explained: “Despite agreeing a timetable in May, a week to 10 days before the roll out we found out that they couldn't deliver.

Mr Taylor told letsrecycle.com that the local press had been very supportive concerning the delay, printing revised timetables and an explanation for the difficulties. He said the council would be writing to residents affected.

He said: “We have notified residents because the roll out was supposed to begin this Monday. We have written to the households expecting their bins on Monday individually, and we will be writing to the other residents as well.”

”We have moved heaven and earth to accommodate Lincoln. “
– Jonathan Straight, Straight plc
Straight
Straight said today it regretted any inconvenience caused to Lincoln city council or its residents, but in a statement said it remained committed to completing the contract to the council's satisfaction.

In a statement, the company explained that the Helisi operation had suffered “technical problems”.

It said: “The Lincoln production was scheduled to be run by our partner Helesi in its factories in Bradford and in Greece. However, due to technical problems Helesi was unable to produce the quantity of bins ordered for the Lincoln contract within the required timescale.”

Straight also said the delay had come because the alternative bins had required testing to ensure they met with Lincoln's requirements.

“This took some days to arrange. As this was a “twin bin” scheme sufficient stocks had not been built up in order to start deliveries at the designated time and as a consequence Lincoln city council moved its delivery schedule into the following month,” the company explained.

Decision
Adding his commenting today, chief executive Jonathan Straight told letsrecycle.com: “We have moved heaven and earth to accommodate Lincoln. We did start producing the bins, but in our opinion Helisi was not producing them fast enough. It was our decision to pull the plug and use our extensive contacts to procure the bins elsewhere.”

“Although the scheme was delayed, if we had walked away, the ramifications would have been horrendous. This way, at least Lincoln gets their waste service,” Mr Straight said.