Refuse Collection Update 19 January

With exception of Oswestry which is on a green collection week all collections in each respective area are normally mixed residual and green collections.

All normally scheduled residual collections were completed with a much higher percentage of residual collections being achieved on the green scheduled collection. It would appear that the messages being delivered via radio and newspapers and the CSC are being received by residents and acted upon .

Waste Collection Tuesday January 19th 2010

Kerbside Plastic Bottle Collections in Oswestry

Kerbside plastic bottle collections come to Oswestry

People across the former Oswestry Borough Council area will be able to recycle plastic bottles from the kerbside when a new collection service for plastic bottles starts on 1 February.

The service is being introduced by Shropshire Council and their waste contractors Veolia Environmental Services following a successful trial carried out in the Whittington area since last September.

Collections of plastic bottles will be made for the first time in the week commencing Monday 1 February alongside the existing recycling collection and then every two weeks after that. There will be no other changes to the existing refuse and recycling collections.

Crews will collect plastic bottles from the kerbside along with the other recycling materials that are already collected, namely paper, glass and cans.

Residents are being asked to wash their plastic bottles, remove and discard the lids, and place the bottles into the same box as their cans.

Members of Veolia staff will be in and around Oswestry town centre over the next two weeks to explain the new scheme to residents prior to a leaflet being delivered to households during the week of 25 January.

The trial in Whittington showed that nearly 90% of residents who regularly recycle at the kerbside added plastic bottles to their recycling boxes.

Andy Goldsmith, Assistant Director for Public Protection with Shropshire Council, said: “For a long time local residents have asked us to recycle plastic bottles from the kerbside. I’m delighted that such a service will be introduced in the Oswestry area this month, and will be provided to residents across the Shropshire Council area in the months ahead.”

Donald Macphail, Managing Director of Veolia Shropshire said: “The trial showed us that being able to recycle plastic bottles from the kerbside along with other materials was very popular with residents. We also saw an increase in recycling overall during the trial.”

Only plastic bottles can be put out for collection. This includes most kitchen and bathroom bottles such as milk containers, soft drink bottles, shampoo bottles, and washing-up liquid bottles. At present this is the only type of plastic which is widely and cost-effectively recycled in the UK. Other types of plastic such as yoghurt pots and margarine tubs will not be collected.

During 2010 the plastic bottle collection service will be introduced in the former North Shropshire, Shrewsbury & Atcham and South Shropshire districts, with the former Bridgnorth district due to follow by March 2011. Residents in these other areas should continue to use local recycling centres to recycle plastic bottles and are asked not to hoard plastic bottles until their collection begins as the collection vehicles will not be able to cope with the resulting volumes.

For more information call 0345 678 9007 or visit www.recycleforshropshire.com.
1. The Veolia team will be promoting the new service at the following places in Oswestry town centre to provide advice about the new service.

a. Sainsbury’s
· Tuesday 19 Jan: 1pm – 4pm
· Thursday 21 Jan:  2pm – 5pm
· Tuesday 26: 10 am –12 pm
· Thursday 28 Jan: 10am – 12pm

b. Morrisons
· Monday 18 Jan: 10 am – 1pm
· Thursday 21 Jan: 10 am – 1pm

c. Homebase
· Monday 18 Jan: 2pm – 5pm
· Friday 22 Jan: 1pm – 4pm
· Monday 25 Jan: 10 am- 1pm
· Friday 29 Jan: 10am – 12 pm

d. Oswestry Market
· Wednesday 20 Jan: all day
· Wednesday 27 Jan: all day

e. Oswestry Library
· Tuesday 19 Jan: 10am – 12pm
· Friday 22 Jan: 10 am – 12 pm
· Tuesday 26 Jan: 1pm – 4pm
· Friday 29 Jan 29: 1pm –  4pm

2. During the promotion in Oswestry town a member of staff will be dressed as a plastic bottle.  Photographs available on request.

3. A photograph of the types of plastic bottles that can be put out for collection
during this trial is available on request. Please call 01743 252828.

4. All plastic bottles collected will be recycled into new plastic bottles.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT for Shrewsbury Residents

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

WASTE AND RECYCLING COLLECTIONS

Please distribute to all

Due to the continued extreme weather conditions across Shropshire, all garden waste collections will be replaced by household refuse collections from

Thursday 14 January until Saturday 23rd January.

Household Refuse and Garden Waste

Please put out your household refuse on your next scheduled collection day (whether you are due a household refuse or garden waste collection-please refer to your collection calendar if unsure). We also will collect additional household refuse put out alongside your bin.

Recycling Boxes

Please put your recycling boxes out on the date shown on your calendar, but if we are unable to make a collection please take them back in for safety reasons.  Weather permitting you will then receive a collection of your boxes on your next calendar date.

Weather permitting, your scheduled collection will revert to the normal service on your collection calendar from

25 January.

For the latest information please contact 0345 6789007 or check the Shropshire Council website www.shropshire.gov.uk

Shropshire Refuse Collection Update Brief

With the continued disruption to refuse collection services and further snowfall forecast we feel it will be helpful to send you a daily update on the collection situation whilst the difficult weather conditions continue.
Friday 8th Jan.

Collection area	Percentage of collections made
Shrewsbury and Atcham	50%
South Shropshire	30%
Bridgnorth	90%
Oswestry	60%
North Shropshire	95%

Monday 11th January.

Collection area	Percentage of collections made	Particular issues
Shrewsbury and Atcham	95% of residual waste collected in urban areas	Only 40% of green and recycling collected in Montford Bridge and Nesscliffe areas
South Shropshire	10% of residual waste collected in Church Stretton 20% of residual waste collected outside of Church Stretton 90% residual waste collected in Ludlow All separate food waste collections in Ludlow made.	The green waste collection due this week in South Shropshire (commencing 11th January) has been replaced with a residual waste collection. However despite extensive press and media coverage only 20% of households presented the residual bin. Veolia are attempting to collect recycling bins by sending the crews out again but success will depend upon time available and weather conditions. REMEMBER RESIDUAL ONLY IN SOUTH SHROPSHIRE FOR WEEK BEGINNING 11th JAN AND NORMAL CALENDAR NEXT WEEK.
Bridgnorth	60% residual waste collected in Highley 80% of Green waste collected in Bridgnorth urban 50% of Green Waste collected in Bridgnorth rural
Oswestry	75% of residual waste collected in Oswestry Town Centre 50% residual collected in St Martins 90% residual collected in Trefonen 75% residual collected in Porth-y-waen and area	Only 20% of residual waste collected in rural areas close to the Welsh border.
North Shropshire	75% collected	Side roads remain difficult

Tuesday 12th January.

Collection area	Problems anticipated.
Shrewsbury and Atcham	Church Pulverbatch and Long Mynd collections of green waste and recycling unlikely.
South Shropshire	Continued difficulties in Church Stretton
Bridgnorth	Green waste collections for Highley and Claverley difficult.
Oswestry	High Lea collection unlikely
North Shropshire	Side roads continue to cause problems Buntingsdale Estate anticipated to be difficult.

As a general note the condition of roads are very specific and some roads in the same area will be safe and others not.  Accordingly residents in neighbouring street may be affected differently. The decision on whether a road and/or footpath is sufficiently safe to make a collection must be made by the driver of the vehicle, who is the senior member of the collection team, and also has the best information, being at the site.

Officers are in contact with every depot twice daily to get an update on the situation and the success of collection will depend very much on the very local circumstances.

We have also received the first feedback from the collections in South Shropshire where green waste rounds have been suspended in favour of dedicating more vehicles to residual (mixed household) waste.  It would appear that 80% of properties in South Shrops on scheduled green waste collection rounds had only put out green waste bins and therefore had not received the message sent out via radio (Sunshine FM, Beacon, Radio Shropshire) two local papers, Town & Parish Councils, the Council website and the Customer Service Centre (CSC).

Residents are advised to stick to their regular collection schedule both in terms of the day of collection and on the types of waste that will be collected.  Side waste will be taken on that day, which will allow for the backlog to be cleared.  Also, in relation to this, waste should be separated into the appropriate bin i.e. only green waste and cardboard in the green bin.

This message has been sent out via radio stations, the web site, the CSC, and in several press releases.  It has also been communicated to town and parish councils via SALC.

Currently it is our opinion that to collect recyclable waste and mix it with waste destined for landfill would be confusing and counter-productive in the long run.

I also attach the frequently asked questions that have been provided to the customer service centre that hopefully give you information to answer most enquiries.

We are continuing to monitor the situation on a very local level and will review our approach as circumstances develop.

FAQ

Emergency Waste Collections – General Questions

(This does not apply to South Shropshire)

What should residents do now if their bins have not been collected?

Proceed as normal. Please take your bin/boxes in and put your waste out on the next scheduled day as per your collection calendar.

What if the waste will not fit in the bin or the bin is overflowing?

As this is an emergency situation, we will accept additional side waste in bags on the next scheduled collection, this should be of the same type of material (ie. General household waste with your household bin and garden waste and cardboard with your garden waste bin.  The same also applies with your kerbside recycling boxes).

If my bin has not been emptied, should I leave my bin out?

No.  Please take your bin in and put it out on the next scheduled day of collection. (Except in South Shropshire)

Why can’t vehicles access the side roads when I can drive my car down the road?

The collection vehicles are large heavy vehicles that are stopping and starting along the route.  The implications of loss of control of these vehicles is much greater than for a car and the safety of residents and crews is our priority.

Although we really this is an important service we have to put this into perspective of health and safety of the general public.

If I can walk from my house to my vehicle along the pavement why can’t the refuse collectors?

On average the refuse collectors have to walk at least 12 miles a day on each round pulling bins and carrying recycling boxes.  Therefore they are more exposed to the hazards of icy pavements than most residents.

Why has my refuse been collected but my recycling boxes haven’t?

It is more difficult to keep balance if the operatives are carrying recycling boxes.  If they slip they have no hands free to steady themselves.

SOUTH SHROPSHIRE AREA ONLY

• Some parts of South Shropshire have been impassable for over three weeks which means that some residents have already missed two collections.
• Therefore, in the South Shropshire area we are suspending garden waste collections next week so that we can make additional refuse collections.
• From 11 January we are asking residents in the South Shropshire area only to put their general household waste bin or black bag out on their scheduled collection day and leave it out until it is emptied, which maybe later in the week

General points

• There are a range of bring sites across the county as well as six Household recycling centres for recycling materials.
• We collect from 131,000 properties across the county every week
• These are extreme weather conditions

Refuse Collections Update 08 Jan

I have received hundreds of phone calls today from people in my ward asking me when their refuse was going to be collected because it had not been picked up today (their scheduled collection day.)

Some residents had phoned me saying that the collection lorries had been into their street but only emptied one or two bins, one resident in particular told me that their drive way was blocked by the collectors making them late for work but when asking about emptying the bin, was told that they could not do so because conditions were too icy. They can park outside their house and walk across the street but cannot empty the bin.

I checked through my emails and I had not received any communication regarding collections since the 6 January which I posted here but when chasing up the answer today I was told that people should take their bins off the street and wait for their next collection day in two weeks time.

Anyone with collections scheduled for next week should put the bins out and if they are not collected then take them back in but I will post updates as and when I receive them.

I understand that the extreme weather is causing a lot of problems and that yes many people will not receive their scheduled collection but surely there could have been a press release or email to councillors about this so that they can advise their residents.

I have spoken to senior people at the council regarding this and it does seem that there is no communication or coherent strategy regarding collections. Lorries going out and emptying one or two bins and then leaving. Would it not have been a good idea to investigate the option of having people in the least impacted areas to place their bins at the end of the street and the lorry emptying them from there otherwise what is the point of sending out the collection lorries with no contingency plan.

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