Recycling services temporarily suspended in Wiltshire due to bin strike
It shouldn't affect household waste
Last updated 8th Mar 2022
Recycling services in Wiltshire have been suspended temporarily due to the ongoing bin strike.
Wiltshire Council and Hills Municipal Collections say they are doing so in order to prioritise household waste collections.
The industrial action by Hills workers has impacted their waste collection services, so recycling won't be taken until the week of the 211st of March.
If people have already put out their black boxes and blue lidded bins they should take them back in until their next scheduled collection date.
Additional recycling materials will be collected, once usual services resume.
Cllr Dr Mark McClelland, Wiltshire Council Cabinet Member for waste, said:
"Despite the industrial action, we still have managed to complete many waste rounds across the county, and we thank people for their patience as we look to catch-up on those missed residual household waste collections as quickly as possible, and these have to be the priority.
"Due to the position of the pickets at Churchfields, it meant that frustratingly no vehicles were able to get through at that depot on Monday, which resulted in police being called to the site. This has had a knock-on effect on our collection services. Similar difficulties with vehicles being blocked from leaving were experienced at the Riverway depot early on Tuesday morning.
"We always expected that collections during this period were going to be fluid and we apologise for the inconvenience this is causing, but we're doing everything we can to minimise the disruption during this complex and unprecedented time.
"One of our contingency plans, which we hoped we wouldn't need to implement, was to temporarily suspend recycling services. This means we can prioritise general waste collections, and people should leave their general waste bin out at 7am on their usual collection day, and it will be emptied - though it may be a day or so late.
"We know it's not ideal but we ask that people keep their kerbside recycling back and take their black boxes and blue lidded bins in until their scheduled collection day after 21 March, or please take the materials to your nearest household recycling centre, as they are operating as normal.
"This dispute is between Hills and the GMB Union, and we hope it is resolved as quickly as possible, so residents can continue to benefit from the range of collections we provide."
People are asked to continue to put out their household waste and garden waste bins on their scheduled collection day by 7am, and if they're not collected, to leave them out and where possible they will be collected the next day.
The county's household recycling centres are still open as normal.
WHY IS THE STRIKE HAPPENING?
Members of the GMB Union working for Hills Waste, who are contracted to carry out collections on behalf of Wiltshire Council, are going on strike for two weeks.
It's all because of a row over pay and follows a vote to reject an improved deal from their employers.
A spokesperson for Hills said:
“This is a very disappointing outcome, we have moved our offer considerably over the previous weeks and we firmly believe that the pay offer provides a fair settlement in relation to inflation and indexation, which we know is impacting the cost of living.
The offer is in line or ahead of comparable local pay awards and it provides positive certainty in a time of increasing volatility."