Anger as some Kent residents go three weeks without bin collections
The clean up has begun, with the various councils trying to fix the backlog but there are many areas that are still affected.
Last updated 18th Apr 2024
Some residents of Swale, Maidstone and Ashford haven't had their rubbish collected in three weeks.
It's made for disgusting living conditions, with bins queuing up outside peoples house's and rubbish overflowing onto the streets.
On March 25th waste company Suez took over the ÂŁ152 million contract from Biffa.
It's since then that the problems have started, with Suez apologising for the disruption last Thursday.
There are attempts being made to clear the backlog, with more collections taking place and more staff being employed.
However, there are still many areas affected, such as Kemsley in Sittingbourne, with various residents voicing their anger at the situation.
Sophie from Hearne Close said: "You can't live like this, it's disgusting, there rubbish everywhere!
"We had fox poo in our garden the other day, and soon we'll have rats.
"When the old company was in charge, they could get to us easily and empty the bin every week, it's just ridiculous."
Charlotte, also from Hearne Close said: "Have you seen my rubbish! It's like a mountain and the animals keep ripping it out."
"I have to go out there every morning and clean it up, when it should be taken, it's disgusting, we shouldn't be doing that, it's what you pay tax for."
Another resident, who wished not be named, said. " I have lived in Swale for 52 years and had never seen it like this.
"It's shameful and then they have the cheek to ask us to pay for more council tax."
Speaking on Monday, Swale Borough Council said: "We had five crews out over the weekend catching up on missed collections and they made some good progress, though they didn’t to get everywhere we'd have liked.
"There were three additional crews working to support the catch up today, and we have a further three planned for tomorrow. As mentioned before, the focus of these catch ups is the delayed general waste and food collections."
Suez has apologised for the issues.
General manager Vinnie Masseri said:
“We are all working hard to get used to the new contract and to collect all the waste that is being presented, however, we know that at the moment, we’re not completing all of our rounds on the scheduled day.
“This isn’t the standard of service we aim to provide longer term and we expect the service levels to improve as everyone gets used to the changes.
“We’d like to apologise to the households affected and reassure them that our teams are working hard to minimise disruption on the ground."