Outrage as bin men won’t collect food and garden waste for a MONTH during heatwave – here are your rights
BIN MEN in one London borough will not be collecting food and garden waste bins for a month during the upcoming heatwave.
Waltham Forest Borough Council announced the move on Twitter on Wednesday evening.
The council's tweet said: "We are suspending brown wheelie bin food/garden waste collections from 15 Aug to 11 Sep.
"We thank all residents for your patience + advise you to continue to dispose of any food/garden waste in brown bins ready for collection from 12 Sep."
Justifying the announcement, they explained: "The UK has had its driest July since 1885, with rainfall down by 35 per cent over the last six months.
"This means that grass and garden plants have been growing more slowly this summer than expected.
"This has significantly reduced the amount of garden waste being left out by residents to be collected by the Council in recent weeks."
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The twitter thread concluded by saying: "This temporary measure will help the Council focus on other services over the summer and help reduce unnecessary journeys for our collection vehicles, helping improve air quality and cutting our carbon emissions."
Local residents expressed their fury on Twitter, with one saying: "Whyyy?! Literally in a heatwave..."
Another added: "that's 6 weeks of food waste, rotting outside our window in a heatwave."
If it's not going to be collected, it's going in the black bin."
Emma Best, the leader of Waltham Forest Conservatives who form a minority of the Labour-run council, called the decision "ridiculous".
She told : "Bins are already full of festering food with residents having no warning of this decision. The state of these bins in flat blocks will be especially grim in a month's time.
WHAT ARE YOUR RIGHTS IN TERMS OF BIN COLLECTION?
According to "Your local authority has a legal duty under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to collect household waste."
However, this only applies to "household waste" , usually not including recyclable or food waste.
The 1990 Act does say that the council has a responsibility to collect these other types of waste "if requested by the occupier of premises in its area"
It seems there is nothing in the law that specifically prevents a suspension of collection of food and garden waste if demand is not seen to be high enough.
Residents can specifically request the council collects this waste but face an uphill battle to prove a legal requirement.
The other option for residents will not come until the next local election, where the people of Waltham Forest can make their feelings known at the ballot box.
Cllr Clyde Loakes, Waltham Forest Council's Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Climate and Air Quality, said: "We have listened to the concerns of residents and decided that we will not be temporarily suspending the brown wheelie bin food and garden waste collection.
“A combination of the extremely dry weather and the summer holiday season means the amount being collected from the brown wheelie bins is lower than normal, with many bins completely empty.
“This has come at a time of extra pressure on the service due to staff shortages brought about by the hot weather and an increase in covid cases.
“I’d like to thank the staff working through this heatwave in really difficult circumstances in such a physically demanding job.”
This comes as trade union Unite have announced that waste collection workers in Newham will be striking over pay at the end of the month.
The strike was announced just weeks after UK bin collections were heavily reduced due to the recent heatwave, with bin men saying it was "too hot" to work.
This will leave two boroughs with at least a partial suspension of bin collection at the same time.
Unite said its members working as drivers, loaders and sweepers in Newham will walk out from August 27 to September 3 after voting by 99% in favour of industrial action.
Sharon Graham, the General Secretary of Unite, said: "Our members are essential for keeping the streets of Newham clean. It's wrong that they are paid almost £2,000 less than workers in neighbouring councils."
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Ms Graham's colleague Steve Edwards, the union's regional officer, added: "Newham Borough Council still have time to avoid a bin strike during one of London's hottest summers."
A statement from Newham Borough Council said: “Over the last few months we have met with the Unite union on a number of occasions to deliver a positive agreement for our staff. We are committed to ongoing dialogue with Unite and have put forward a range of dates for independent conciliation facilitated by ACAS.
“We understand the impact the cost of living crisis is having on our staff. We are already a London Living Wage Employer and we regularly benchmark the wages of our Waste and Recycling Teams against other authorities, which has shown our staff are paid competitively.
“We have made significant progress in our discussions with Unite so far.
"We have agreed that we will review the treatment of time for those who are absent as a result of illness and we are actively working with union representatives to agree the detail around this.
"We have made the union aware that we are committed to a review of overtime rates and allowances. There is a need to consult with all Union partners and follow Council governance but with a favourable outcome for staff we would hope this can be achieved reasonably quickly.
“However, we are not in a position to set pay awards in isolation at Newham and are bound by the national pay mechanism.
“While not agreed yet, the national pay offer is looking to be favourable for staff in the waste and recycling service.
“The salary negotiation offer that the council has put forward would increase the salary of operatives by 9.7% to £25,212 and for drivers by 7.6% to £31,731.
“In addition, this year we made a £2,000 recruitment and retention payment to all waste drivers as there is currently a national shortage of HGV drivers. We have offered all of our frontline staff the opportunity of a fully funded HGV driving course to increase their earning potential.
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“We appreciate the valuable role that all of our staff play in delivering essential services for residents. With this in mind, we have to work on a consistent and fair basis for all Newham staff, not just our staff in the refuse service. We must take a corporate approach on any changes to terms and conditions. We also need to take into account the council’s financial position and consider affordability in any solution we are able to agree with the unions.
“We are now planning for a number of scenarios to minimise the impact any action will have on our residents. We are waiting for further proposals from Unite and are committed to continuing the ongoing dialogue with them to deliver a fair outcome for our staff and the residents of Newham."
