Garden bin collection delays due to 'pingdemic'

BROWN bins will go unemptied for another week as Rotherham Council’s staffing crisis continues.
 

BROWN bins will go unemptied for another week as Rotherham Council’s staffing crisis continues.

The Advertiser told last month how garden waste collections had been suspended because two-fifths of staff were off sick or self-isolating.

RMBC said last Monday that it was “struggling to maintain the necessary staffing levels” to clear the backlog, so collections would be “paused” for another fortnight — until at least August 23.

A spokesperson said: “The council has been working extremely hard to clear the backlog of missed bin collections and keep other services going, during very difficult times.

“However, like many other local authorities and businesses we are struggling to maintain the necessary staffing levels.

“An ongoing national shortage of HGV drivers has meant we have been unable to cover staff absences with enough agency workers or recruit additional team members to enable all the waste services to operate.

“Therefore, to ensure general waste and recycling collections can continue for all residents across the borough, we have had to pause garden waste collections for a further two weeks.”

Household waste recycling centres are operating as usual and accepting garden waste, the council said. Details of locations and opening hours are at www.rotherham.gov.uk/environment.

The spokesperson said: “We hope that the garden waste service will be able to resume from Monday, August 23.

“In the meantime, the situation remains under continual review and we will keep you informed about when collections can begin again.”

 

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