WASTE collection services are expected to be back up and running next week and Bromsgrove District Council has issued bin advice to help residents.
The information on the council website says:
“If you were due a recycling collection on Tuesday or Wednesday this week and your green bin was not collected, we will attempt to return on Monday (September 3) in a special collection, so please leave your bin out for 7am on that day.
Residents due to have their recycling collection on Thursday or Friday this week and their green bin was not collected, recycling will now be collected on their next scheduled recycling collection in two weeks (week commencing September 10). Operatives will collect any excess recycling left in cardboard boxes alongside the bin.
Grey bins are expected to be collected as normal next week and the council has promised residents that they will be kept up to date if disruptions continue.
Head of Environmental Services Guy Revans said: “We’re sorry if you’ve had to wait for your collection.
“We’ve spent all week trying to catch up on the ripple effect from sickness issues that affected our grey bin collections last Friday, which carried across in to this week’s recycling collections.
“Out of 57 staff, 8 are on holiday and 13 are currently off sick.
“This means only six of our usual ten crews are operating, and they have been working their socks off, but four crews would collect about 5,600 homes a day and that’s a shortfall the remaining staff can’t physically do.”
The advice comes just after the service has made promises to reduce its reliance on agency staff, including recruiting to fill vacant posts and cover known long term sickness, meaning extra trained people are not available to be pulled in at short notice.
Guy Revans added: ““It’s an incredible series of events.
We’ve just recruited staff to strengthen the service because we were over reliant on agency staff.
“The problem appears to be short term but recovering from it may take a little time to settle down.”
Visit www.bromsgrove.gov.uk/bins for further updates.
