South Glocs Council announce measures ahead of planned bin strikes

South Gloucestershire Council have announced new measures to help locals deal with the impact of a lack of kerbside waste collections.

It's ahead of planned strike action by Unite members at Suez, who's contracted to deal with waste disposal in the region.

They say they're 'prioritising' black bins - and are making sure they're collected on all scheduled days.

The local authority also say they are 'aware' of the concerns residents have around recycling - and the recycling of food waste.

Special arrangements have been made for extra deposit points at a number of locations across the district in addition to the Sort It centres in Yate, Mangotsfield and Thornbury to help mitigate this.

Recycling and food waste can be taken to four additional locations around South Gloucestershire every weekday between 8am and 2pm:

• Stoke Gifford Park and Ride (Parkway station) - Hunts Ground Road, BS34 8XX
• Lyde Green Park and Ride - Willowherb Road, BS16 7GG
• Page Road short stay car park Staple Hill - Page Road, BS16 4NE
• SGC North Way site, Filton - BS34 7QG

Recycling only bins will also be available from 12pm on Tuesday 4 July, with their locations yet to be confirmed - these will be available 24 hours a day.

Leader of South Gloucestershire Council Councillor Claire Young said: "The industrial dispute between SUEZ and UNITE is continuing to cause a great deal of inconvenience and concern to our residents. Until it is resolved, the Council will carry on doing all it can to help keep people informed and we urge both parties to reach a swift agreement.

“We are working with the staff that SUEZ does have available to provide the best level of service possible under the circumstances. We are focusing on black bin collections, so waste like nappies and dog waste will be collected. We're also working with SUEZ to try to bring additional food waste services on board."

Previously, a spokesperson for SUEZ recycling and recovery UK told us: "We have offered our teams working on our South Gloucestershire Council contract an 8% pay increase for 2023 which, when combined with the similar pay increase agreed in 2022, delivers pay increases of 15 – 16.75% over 2 years. This was rejected by Unite the Trade Union, who are seeking a 15% increase for 2023 alone, which would deliver pay increases in excess of 22% over 2 years.

"Industrial action is the very last outcome we wanted to see and our goal is to reach an agreement that would bring this to an end. Our door is still open and we welcome further discussions with Unite.

"With just over 40% of our people in South Gloucestershire continuing to work, we are able to provide a limited collection service that prioritises collecting black bin waste and opening the larger Sort It centres. We’re also developing arrangements for recycling to cover the union’s proposed strike over the summer, such as some Sort It centres opening earlier with dedicated space for food waste and extra recycling. Unfortunately these won’t be as convenient as our normal weekly household collection service but they will allow householders to continue to recycle.

"We’d like to apologise to our residents in South Gloucestershire for the disruption from the strike action and thank them for their patience."

You can find out more information here.

To report a missed collection visit the South Gloucestershire Council website. https://beta.southglos.gov.uk/report-a-missed-waste-or-recycling-collection

Read more: South Gloucestershire's bin strikes continue

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