Hundreds of bin collections in Bristol were missed last month because of staff sickness and vehicle breakdowns. Angry residents have flooded councillors with complaints as a result of the “shameful” service by city council company Bristol Waste.
The problems are worst in north Bristol, with 250 streets missed in Clifton alone in December. The local authority says measures are being taken to resolve the issues permanently, including introducing four new recycling crews and an evening collection, plans to extend the recycling processing operations at Albert Road depot to 24 hours a day, and bringing forward a similar new facility at Avonmouth tip, which would reduce transport distances from the kerbside in the north of the city.
Lib Dem group leader Cllr Jos Clark told a council meeting that the failures had seen trust lost between exasperated residents and City Hall. She said every councillor would have had numerous complaints from householders about missed collections over Christmas.
Cllr Clark told member forum on Tuesday, January 14: “This situation is unacceptable. For many, this is the only regular interaction they have with the council.
“The contract that we, as a council, and the taxpayer have entered into is that we put our rubbish out each week and it gets taken away, but unfortunately over the past few months that trust has broken down. Residents who live at the end of the pick-up round have not had their bins emptied for weeks and weeks, quite literally.
“As a resident, I put my bins out in hope rather than expectation and I’m sure we all feel the same, but as a councillor, the day after we’re meant to have a bin collection, I’m filled with dread because I know we’re going to get a slew of angry residents emailing us. It’s really shameful as a city that we’re in this situation.
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“People are writing to us saying it’s a conspiracy, that ‘they’re changing the bin collection by stealth’.” Cllr John Goulandris (Conservative, Stoke Bishop) said residents’ impressions of Bristol Waste’s performance were that the council was poorly managed.
Environment and sustainability policy committee chair Cllr Martin Fodor (Green, Redland) replied that improving the service was a priority. He said plans to open a new recycling bulking facility at Avonmouth would significantly reduce time lost by crews in north Bristol travelling and queuing at depots.
Cllr Fodor said: “There was a very high level of sickness and vehicle breakdowns in December. The latest figures show an almost complete, accurate rate in the last week and I’m really glad to say it’s caught up thanks to the measures that have been taken but we need to have a properly funded service and I will be pressing for that.”
In a reply to Cllr Jerome Thomas (Green, Clifton) he said: “Multiple missed collections is most frustrating for residents. We need to find out if there are recurrent missed streets because that means there is a pattern rather than something exceptional, so I will push for an answer to that.”
In a written reply to questions from Cllr Nicholas Coombes (Lib Dem, Westbury-on-Trym & Henleaze), Cllr Fodor said: “Since July, 2024, Bristol Waste has introduced four recycling rounds to build capacity back into service delivery. Subsequently in October, Bristol Waste introduced a proactive evening collection.
“As a result, there were improvements to operational performance, however there remained challenges in the north of the city. Bristol Waste has worked closely with the council to progress a planning variation for the recycling bulking station in January 2025.
“This will increase processing capacity and improve the efficiency of the service. Also, the council client team and Bristol Waste are expediting the opening of the bulking facility at Avonmouth.
“This will lead to a significant improvement in the recycling service in the north of the city as transport distances will be reduced between doorstep and depot. This will also improve the recycling service reliability for the rest of the city.
“Bristol Waste is expected to collect missed collections within 24 hours of a report. Performance is closely monitored.”
The development control committee will decide the planning application to extend the Albert Road depot’s recycling hours, which has received 28 objections, on Wednesday, January 22.
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