No garden waste collection in Rotherham for six weeks

Rotherham Council says it has made the difficult decision to suspend garden waste for six weeks from Monday (March 30, 2020) to prioritise essential waste in the face of reduced staff numbers.

A council spokesperson said: “Whilst the Council continues to try to maintain essential services to residents during these unprecedented times, a number of staff are affected by Coronavirus (COVID-19) and need to be off work in order to self-isolate to protect others, or because they have been designated as vulnerable by the government and need to remain at home for 12 weeks.“One third of Rotherham Council’s refuse collection staff are not currently in work as a result.”This change will enable the Council to prioritise critical services including providing waste service to the NHS and pink lid bin general household waste. The decision has also been based on which recycling/waste can be most safely stored by residents at home for a longer period of time.The spokesperson added: “We appreciate households have paid for the subscription period of thirteen months until February 2021 and may not now receive all their collections for the year. This is obviously a developing situation and customers will be informed of arrangements to rectify any collections missed once the situation has subsided and services have returned to normal.

“We apologise for the inconvenience caused during this time and thank residents for their patience and understanding.”

The Council say it will review the position again at the end of the six-week suspension.Households are advised to keep their brown bin on their property and not on the pavement, and to only collect cuttings if they can be stored.

Residents are asked to not phone the contact centre so it is reserved for essential services.

For more information on waste collections services visit the council’s webpage