Please be patient if our Cityclean services are disrupted

We’re wanting to alert our residents to the possibility of disrupted rubbish and recycling services in the coming weeks and months due to Covid.

Our bin crews and street cleaners are continuing to work hard collecting the city’s waste, and Cityclean services are operating normally at present.

However, like in many areas of work and society, we’re seeing a steadily rising number of staff being infected with Covid or having to self-isolate.

This is alongside members of the team who are not at work due to normal winter sickness.

We’re recruiting more staff

We’re therefore asking our residents to be patient at this time and keep supporting our crews who have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic, and in all weathers.

We’re in the process of recruiting agency staff to cover and have contingency plans in place. But as the situation changes daily, we’re having to adapt quickly and sometimes at very short notice.

This can lead to collections being missed, which we know and appreciate is extremely frustrating.

We have plans in place to minimise disruption

Please bear with us and we will return to pick up any missed collections as soon as possible.

Councillor Amy Heley, chair of the council’s environment, transport and sustainability committee, said: “Our staff are working tremendously hard to keep the city clean and tidy, and have been doing so since the first lockdown last March.

“But we want to be honest and realistic with our residents and let people know we do have plans in place to minimise any disruption to service as much as possible, but there may be some delays.

“We hope people will understand we have and are doing our best to keep the service running as much as normal during these difficult times.”

Lockdown has meant far more waste 

Collections are also being hampered by the sheer volume of waste our crews are having to pick up as lockdown and shops closing means more and more people are buying food, clothes, luxuries and essentials online.

This is creating far more household waste and recycling in the form of bags, boxes, paper and plastic.

Cllr Heley added: “All the extra rubbish means it takes longer to collect, our lorries get fuller quicker and more trips are needed to the recycling or waste sites, and this can have a knock-on effect on following collections.”

Helping yourself and our crews stay safe

The health and safety of our residents and crews is our number one priority. Here are some ways you can make collections safer for yourself, your families and our staff.

Collections

  • keep at least 2 metres from crews so they can carry out collections safely
  • wash your hands before and after sorting your rubbish and putting your bins out
  • clean the handles on your bin with disinfectant before and after being emptied
  • if you have a vehicle, please make sure it’s not blocking access to bins as this can also hold up or cause missed collections.

Personal waste

  • put personal waste like tissues, masks and other PPE into a securely disposable rubbish bag
  • bags should then be placed into another bag, tied securely and kept separate from other waste
  • put these aside for at least 48 hours before being put in your usual household waste.

Other ways to help

  • flatten all boxes and place in your bin. Unflattened boxes take up extra space
  • don’t leave extra waste beside you bin or communal bins as this is fly-tipping
  • if you have too much waste or recycling, please keep it until your next collection or take it to one of our 64 recycling points or our Household Waste Recycling Sites.

Thank you for your understanding and co-operation, and stay safe at all times.