Green bin collections back next week following strike ‘backlog’ clean up
They were paused to help tackle a backlog caused by recent strike action
Adur and Worthing Councils paused green waste collections to tackle a post-strike ‘backlog’ of waste but have promised the collections will be back next week.
Both councils took the decision to pause green waste collections – a service which residents pay up to £85 a year for in addition to their standard collections – in order to tackle the backlog of waste following a four-week refuse worker strike.
The councils have now confirmed that green waste collections will resume on May 3.
Striking refuse workers have returned to work after both a joint recognition agreement and pay deal were agreed between unions UNISON and GMB and A+W Councils.
Bin crew loaders will now receive a salary of £22,129 while cleansing drivers will get £24,920.
In addition, a ‘skills payment’ for scarce HGV drivers will increase to £3,500 – up from the £2,700 previously agreed.
Whilst bin collections resumed on April 12, with workers aiming to clear the backlog from the four-week strike, the councils paused green waste collections to speed up the process.
A+W Councils have encouraged those with a green waste subscription to continue making payments which they say will allow them to extend subscriptions to make up for any missed collections.
A previous statement from the council reads: “We suspended the garden waste collection so that we could put more vehicles and crews on refuse and recycling collections.”
Some residents were unhappy about the further delay with some claiming their green waste had ‘turned to compost’ whilst waiting to be collected.
“Now we’ve got to wait another week,” one said.
“I use the compostable garden waste bags,” said another, “I had four bags ready before the strike which broke down so I had to rebag the waste and take it to the tip.
“I filled a further three bags expecting them to be collected… they will now start to decompose too.”
The councils said green waste subscriptions will be extended to make up for missed collections.