Wealden working to tackle missed collections

Waste management company Kier Environmental is working to improve household collections in Wealden as a matter of urgency after a large number of late or missed collections since the service was launched in July.

According to Wealden district council in Sussex, 98% of collections are now being made on time but it is working with Kier to increase this to 99.5% as the current situation is still not good enough.

Kier Environmental launched the new service for Wealden on July 22 as part of its 120 million, 10-year waste and recycling collection contract signed with the East Sussex Joint Waste Partnership in December 2012 (see letsrecycle.com story). Partnership councils include Eastbourne borough, Hastings borough, Rother district and Wealden district.

But, Wealden council drew criticism for the new service in August from Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes, Norman Baker, who said that it was unacceptable that thousands of households had been left with litter on their doorsteps after missed collections, particularly in rural areas (see letsrecycle.com story).

As part of the contract, Kier operates an alternate weekly collection of residual waste one week and dry commingled recyclables the next, with glass collected separately. The firm will also offers Wealden residents a free fortnightly collection of green waste, although this is a charged service for other partnership councils.

Slow process

A spokesman for Wealden council told letsrecycle.com that improving the service had been a slow process but that although some collections were still not being made on time, there had been gradual improvement.

Wealden councillor Rowena Moore, portfolio holder for waste management, said Kier had accepted responsibility for the shortcomings so far, but added that the 10-year collection contract which also has an option for a 10-year extension still offered savings for taxpayers.

Cllr Moore said: The new waste arrangements for Wealden, Hastings, Rother and Eastbourne are already bringing about a significant increase in the amount of waste that can be recycled and the contract reduces the cost of the waste service to the taxpayer. The arrangements have had operational difficulties in their early weeks. Kier have accepted responsibility for the shortcomings so far and have invested considerable resources to help improve the situation.

At the moment over 98% of households in the district are getting their waste and recycling collected on time. I know that this is still not good enough and I am working with Kier to put it right.

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for Kier commented: Significant progress has been made in providing the new recycling and waste services for every home in Wealden, and Kier is absolutely committed to ensuring that delays still affecting a small proportion of homes are resolved as a matter of urgency.

Under Kiers contract with the Partnership councils, collections services have already been rolled out in Wealden, Eastbourne and Hastings, with services in Rother due to be launched in April 2014.