Waste collection contingency plans announced
A contingency plan for waste collections has been finalised following the announcement from Unite regarding its intention to take industrial action within the council’s Waste Management service.
The industrial action is due to begin on Saturday, 29 December 2018 – and the plan prepared by the council aims to minimise disruption caused by the action as far as possible.
The contingency replaces previously announced plans for the Christmas and New Year period.
In simple terms, the new plan will see citizens receive one collection of all waste types per week, rather than separate pick-ups for household rubbish and recycling on your current collection day.
Residents should continue to present their bins in the usual way (recycling in the recycling bin and household waste in the regular rubbish bin) and collection crews will dispose of the contents in the most effective way as per the contingency plan.
The waste will be collected any time from 6am to 10pm, seven days a week, so residents are advised to put their bins out for the regular collection day but if not picked up for whatever reason, leave them out until a collection is made.
Services previously scheduled for New Year’s Day have been cancelled, meaning anyone with collections scheduled for that date will next have their bins picked up on January 8.
For residents wishing to continue to recycle, the city’s five Household Recycling Centres (HRCs) offer an alternative option for citizens to dispose of all types of waste including recycling. Before any visit, residents can check opening hours and view the queues at their HRC by clicking here.
Cllr Majid Mahmood, Cabinet Member for Clean Streets, Waste and Recycling, said: “Our immediate priority is to minimise the disruption to the people who live in Birmingham.
“We have a contingency, but there will be alterations to the way we process waste that is collected.
“I know this will be of concern to residents who are keen to recycle as much of their waste as possible, but our top priority has to be that of citizens – clean streets for Birmingham.
“We thank those who are committed to throwing away as little waste as possible and look forward to swiftly resolving this dispute so they can resume their recycling – and if there is any disruption, I would like to apologise in advance and assure you that we will get to your bins as soon as we can.
“Both the council and Unite want to end this dispute as quickly as possible and continue to deliver the first-class refuse service the citizens of Birmingham deserve.”
For more information on how to best manage your household waste, visit: www.birmingham.gov.uk/waste
