The national shortage of qualified HGV drivers is causing significant problems to both local authorities and private sector industry. In recent weeks, the Council has also been affected by these shortages which have been exacerbated by staff absences, including those caused by the pandemic.
All available resources are being deployed to waste collection but, unfortunately, these pressures have led to the Council making the difficult decision to cancel garden waste collections on a few days as follows:
- Thursday 29th July 2021;
- Friday 30th July 2021;
- Monday 2nd August 2021.
Councillor Ray Faulkner, Deputy Leader for Environment and Housing, said: “We recognise many people are using their gardens at the moment and generating garden waste, but the shortage of drivers means we, like many other local authorities, are simply unable to provide this service as normal.
“This decision has not been taken lightly and we are doing everything we can to keep our resources at the required level. We have taken a risk based approach to prioritising collections and will continue to provide both residual (grey bin) and recycling (blue bin) collections. These should be presented as usual.”
We are monitoring our resources on a daily basis and the Council cannot rule out further disruption, so please keep an eye on our website and on social media for the latest information.
Information about home composting may also be found at http://www.eaststaffsbc.gov.uk/bins-rubbish-recycling/composting
The County Council’s Household Waste Recycling Centres remain open and will accept garden waste. Further details may be found at Recycling centres (tips) https://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/Waste-and-recycling/recyclingcentres/RecyclingCentres-overview.aspx
The Council would like to apologise for any inconvenience.