Bins not collected in Doncaster since Christmas Eve

Rubbish has blown out of recycling boxes and littered the streets, leaving neighbourhoods untidy and scattered with cans, bottles and paper.

Angry residents are now calling on the council to improve their refuse services as they are still waiting for their bins to be emptied after the festive period.

The council had reportedly assured locals that all bins would be emptied by the end of the weekend – but residents have said their bins were still full yesterday. One woman, who lives on Melville Avenue, Balby, said: “Our black and green bins still haven’t been emptied.

“They were supposed to be emptied on Friday, our normal collection day, but they weren’t. The bins haven’t been emptied since Christmas Eve.

“They are overflowing now and there are cans, bottles and paper all over the street.

“Lots of the green boxes don’t have lids so if the wind is strong enough, like it has been recently, things just get blown about. It’s not very nice at all.

“I’ve tried to get in touch with the council a few times, but you just get told you are 18th in a queue and give up.

“When I did speak to somebody they told me to call back after 5pm because that is when the bin men finish their shift .

“It gives them a chance to get round to everybody. But, when I called back after 5pm I was told there was nobody there to speak to.

“I’ve had a few people tell me they are experiencing the same problems, even people who live in Belle Vue and towards the town centre – it seems to be affecting everyone.

“Christmas comes every single year and they know everyone is going to have double, if not triple, the amount of rubbish. So, why does this happen? They should have a better plan in place to deal with it.”

Concerns have also been raised about recyclable waste not being disposed of properly after residents said they saw green boxes being tipped in o the back of refuse trucks.

Paul Ridsdale, of Paxton Crescent, Armthorpe, said: “The green box recycling is three days behind for the street, and instead of the recycling wagon all the recycling boxes are being put into a normal refuse wagon. It is an absolute disgrace.”

A spokesman for Suez, formally Sita UK, the organisation tasked with the town’s bin collection, said: “Council services were suspended for a week during the Christmas break, but in anticipation of an increased workload after the holidays, additional vehicles and crews were trained to deal with the expected high volumes of waste.

“Unfortunately, due to factors beyond our control, mainly relating to staff sickness or absence, we have not been able to mobilise some of the additional crews and the result is that some residents will have experienced delays to their planned collections, for which we apologise.

“As of Monday, January 11, all residents should have received a collection of their household rubbish and we have completed the majority of recycling collections, however, we are still a day behind on collection of recyclable material.

“Collection of recycling is also being delayed because, in some cases, our crews are having to additionally sort through recycling that has been mixed together, before they can place it in the collection vehicles. Residents can really help us to speed up collections by making sure that their recyclable materials are properly separated.

“We anticipate that all uncollected recycling will have been cleared by Wednesday and normal scheduled services will resume by the end of this week. We would like to thank residents for their patience during this busy period.”

Doncaster Council’s assistant director of environment, Gill Gillies, also apologised to residents and added: “We will be addressing the issue of litter which has blown out of recycling boxes in recent days, and council staff will be out to tidy this up over the coming week.”

Report missed collections to Doncaster Council on 01302 734999 or at www.doncaster.gov.uk/recycling