Bin collections update

We would like to apologise to residents who have experienced problems with their bin collections in recent weeks.

These have largely been on the refuse (black bin) collections with just some isolated issues on recycling, food and garden waste.

The problems with the black bins have mainly been caused by some work behind the scenes to review the collection rounds.

This work had not been done for many years and was well overdue. Routes had become inefficient and a greater distance was being travelled by the trucks than was needed.

Our main priorities were not to change anybody’s collection day and to improve the environmental impact of the service.

New routes, including one dedicated to communal bin areas, were created and tested by crews for viability, before being implemented on 1 July.

Since then, there has been an inevitable bedding in period. We expected this to last for three to four weeks, but at the moment we are continuing to see an unfinished level of work each day.

The number of roads going uncollected varies from day to day.

The team at Canenco has put a number of measures in place to improve the situation.
 
Supervisors are out every day with crews. At the depot, there is hourly monitoring of the progress of collections. Tip run times and the frequency of them are also being monitored.
 
Work not completed from the refuse rounds each day is being rolled over to a mop up crew for the following day.
 
Canenco is also using up to five crews on Saturdays to catch up on missed bins and access issues, taking into account drivers’ rest needs.

All of this is being mixed with the traditional summer issues of staff holiday, resulting in greater use of agency workers who are less familiar with the patch, and an increase in roadworks that hamper or entirely prevent access to roads – and in some cases, to several roads.
 
We are also aware of system issues that can mean our website shows roads as being completed when they have not been, leading to frustration from residents who are unable to report online and have to call instead. These are being urgently looked into.
 
If your bin has not been collected, please report it to us via our website and leave it out for our mop up crew to empty.

If the website does not allow you to do this, please ring the bins and waste team on 01227 947860. Lines are open between 8.45am and 5pm on weekdays (excluding public holidays).

Resolving this temporary issue with collections while the new routes bed in is a priority for us. A lot of work is taking place to achieve this and return the service to its usual stable position.

Cllr Alan Baldock, Leader, Canterbury City Council
Cllr Mike Sole, Deputy Leader, Canterbury City Council

Published: 14 August 2024