Blue bin collection in Stratford district to start again next week
Recycling collections will restart on Monday (2nd August) - two weeks after a fire destroyed the Pure Recycling facility in Ettington.
The blaze, on 19th July, forced Stratford District Council to suspend its blue bin collection service while its contractor, Biffa, looked for an alternative site to take the dry recyclable materials.
The council today (Friday) announced new arrangements have now been made.
Cllr Daren Pemberton, deputy leader of the council, said: “Firstly, I would like to apologise for this disruption in service and thank our residents for their patience and understanding in this matter.
“As with any unexpected event, contingency and business continuity plans exist, but do take time to put in place, particularly when physical infrastructure has been destroyed.
“SDC officers have been working intensely behind the scenes with our contractor, Biffa who deliver the waste service, to ensure right alternative disposal arrangements are put in place.
“The easy option would have been merely to collect recyclable material and send it to either landfill or for incineration. Neither of these options would have allowed for recycling of waste, which we know is really important to our residents who want to play their part in living sustainably and addressing climate change. For that reason it was and is important for us to get the right disposal method in place even though that meant a slightly longer suspension of the service.
"The majority of residents across the district have only had one recycling collection missed with a total of eight days of recycling collections actually missed. All other collections remained as normal.
“We recognise the inconvenience and thank residents again for their understanding. We will be collecting extra recycling on the next set of rounds. We also remember and be thankful that the fire was contained and expertly dealt with by Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service and that no one was hurt in the fire.”
For residents that have had a missed recycling collection, they will be able to put out any extra recyclable material with their next collection. If this can’t be fitted in the wheelie bin, then it can be placed beside the bin in cardboard boxes, rigid containers or in, preferably, clear plastic bags.
Cllr Pemberton added: “We know that when collections start there will be extra recycling collected, which means the trucks will fill up quicker, so catch-up collections have been factored in and collections may not take place at your usual time.
“The advice is: ‘Please present your bin on your normal collection day and if crews don’t manage to collect it, please keep it out and they will get to it as soon as they can. This may be one or two days later. Please do not report these as missed bins.’
“Additional crews will be deployed to catch-up on collections as quickly as possible. Residents may see different vehicles collecting the recycling, but please be reassured that all the material collected will be recycled.
“Throughout the whole of the pandemic last year and this, crews have done exceptionally well in keeping the service running and operational and we know how much our residents have valued this and we can only apologise for this disruption in service following a totally unexpected event.
“To help with the collection of additional recyclable materials, please make sure it is washed, cleaned and dry as best as possible to help with the end destination point and prevent the contamination of loads.”
