Bin strike update – 3pm on Thursday 6 July

Members of the GMB union who work for Canenco on our waste collection service are taking strike action again today (Thursday 6 July).

For the second day in a row, Canenco had a substantial number of crews that were willing to work.

For much of today, they were all prevented from leaving the depot by pickets, but just before 1pm, Canenco was able to send out nine crews made up of staff not in the GMB.

These crews will be working in residential areas such as Hales Place and St Stephens in Canterbury and aim to empty as many refuse bins as possible, but they will not be able to complete the entire planned service.

Residents who have missed out on collections yesterday and today will be able to put out ‘side waste’ – ie, rubbish outside of your bin in black bags – at their next collection on Wednesday 19 or Thursday 20 July. This is a one-off arrangement only.

Your support in helping with this will be really appreciated.

If it is refuse week, firstly, please try and squash the rubbish down in your bin as far as you can to get as much in there as possible.

If you then need to put side waste out, please double black bag it, make sure it is not too heavy for crews to pick up, and try to put it out in the morning rather than overnight if you can, to prevent foxes and gulls getting to it.

If it is recycling week, please try and bundle up paper and card rather than keep it loose, and prioritise glass in your blue bin.

We are also getting queries about garden waste refunds for collections that have not taken place.

The terms and conditions when you sign up to this service clearly state that refunds are not provided when collections cannot go ahead due to strike action and we are maintaining that position.

We are very sorry for the ongoing disruption to waste collections and work continues to try and resolve these issues so that collections can resume.

It is a fluid situation and further strike action may happen in the coming days. We will continue to provide updates.

If you are able to access Kent County Council’s Household Waste Recycling Centres and can take your waste there, information about booking a slot is on KCC’s website.

Published: 6 July 2023