New company fails to make the grade on very first day
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Ealing's new Refuse and Recycling Service has run into big problems on its first day.
Residents have reported that green boxes and white bags - all due to be picked up yesterday (Monday 2nd April) - have still not been collected, with suggestions that new lorries are too big to get down some of the roads.
An Ealing Today forum member from Hanwell said :
'' there is chaos round here today, food and litter are everywhere.''
In roads where recycling has been collected boxes and bags have not been returned.
The Council had previously announced the new environmental services contractor, Enterprise, (which has just taken over from May Gurney) would 'keep the borough’s streets spic and span and collect household rubbish and recycling.'
In a news release - issued prior to the problems - Keith Townsend, executive director of environment and customer services, said: “Making Ealing a cleaner place to live is one of the council’s key priorities, working with Enterprise we will be working to improve standards even further.
“I would like to thank residents for their continued commitment to recycling helping recycling rates to improve year-on-year. There is now very little that can’t be recycled from home and I would encourage everyone to cut the amount of waste going to landfill by making full use of all the recycling services available.
“We are doing our utmost to ensure refuse and recycling collections continue to run smoothly but we would ask for residents’ patience as the new contractor takes over.”
But yesterday afternoon local patience wore thin and many residents started reporting their recycling had gone uncollected.
It's not yet known the scale - but various streets throughout W5, W7, W13 and W4 have been affected, with recycling boxes left and rubbish spilling onto the pavements.
It's been suggested that some of the new collection vehicles are are too big to get down many of the roads - leading one forum member to describe it as a 'cock-up of enormous proportions.'
The controversy comes just after the Council introduced a subscription service for garden waste collection, which angered many locals. Ealing residents are now being charged £40 a year to have garden waste collected by the Council.
A council spokeswoman said: "Apologies to anyone whose recycling or refuse collection has been missed. We have had some teething problems but we have got extra crews working to clear up any missed areas today, or at the latest tomorrow. Residents should leave their recycling or refuse out as usual for collection.
“It is worth noting that food waste will be collected separately from other recycling.
To report a missed collection visit www.ealing.gov.uk/recycling or contact our customer services team on 020 8825 6000.”
Have you been affected? Discuss on your local forum.
April 4, 2012