All rubbish and recycling services in and around Glastonbury should be close to normal by this weekend, weather permitting, Somerset Waste Partnership (SWP) said today.

 

The vast majority of Somerset homes have already had collections of rubbish and recycling, thanks to a week of very hard work and long hours by dedicated waste crews.

 

SWP hopes to complete all catch-up efforts by the end of this week’s full five days of collections until Saturday, with services one day in arrears.

 

All Recycling Centres are now open 9-5 seven days a week for rubbish and recycling, and SWP has urged residents to make full use of these facilities.

 

With the snow and ice gone, rubbish collections have proved easier than recycling services, in part because refuse trucks can take far more weight before unloading.

 

Lower loading levels, sorting times and greater Christmas waste slowed some services, despite crews working up to 12-hour shifts and catching up on missed collections the next day.

 

The enhanced Sort It Plus kerbside collections – that include cardboard and household plastic bottles – were heavily used in Taunton Deane, Sedgemoor, Mendip and South Somerset.

 

Overall, double the usual tonnage of rubbish and recycling was handled by waste crews and Recycling Centres last week, with 10 additional vehicles out every day to improve services.

 

SWP has said that extra black bags beside rubbish bins and additional carrier bags of materials beside recycling boxes will be collected.

 

SWP managing director Steve Read said: “To be cost effective throughout the year we operate a very efficient waste service with no real slack in the system. 

 

“The combination of the highly unusual snow and ice before Christmas and the traditionally heavy tonnages over Christmas has been particularly challenging. 

 

“We always expect and plan for extra tonnages post-Christmas but we have never before gone into the period with such a backlog.

 

 “When other services, like buses or trains, cannot run for good reasons, they do not face – as we did with waste – picking up twice the number of passengers when they resume.”

 

He added that, apart from a couple of days when collections were impossible because of heavy snow, collection crews and Recycling Centre staff had worked very hard in tough conditions.

 

“Collection crews had two days off for Christmas and one for the New Year, and have gone straight back into working up to 12 hours a day to help clear up and get us all back on track.”

 

For information on the situation, contact Mendip District Council customer services 01749 648999 customerservices@mendip.gov.uk

 

Updates on the situation are posted on the SWP website at www.somersetwaste.gov.uk, on its @SomersetWaste Twitter feed or http://twitter.com/somersetwaste, or on the SWP Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Somerset-Waste-Partnership/128826580486763

Latest updates http://www.somersetwaste.gov.uk/pages/Winter_weather_recent_reports.asp

Winter hints and guidelines http://www.somersetwaste.gov.uk/pages/Winter_weather.asp

Recycling Centre information and locations  http://www.somersetwaste.gov.uk/pages/LS_reuse_recycle.asp

New Year collection changes http://www.somersetwaste.gov.uk/pages/Bank%20Holiday%20page.asp