News MBC Leader meets with CEO of SUEZ to help improve waste collections
The New Leader of Maidstone Borough Council (MBC), Cllr Stuart Jeffery, has met with the CEO of SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK Ltd to stress the importance of improving the service.
The Council is working hard with SUEZ to improve the waste service and wants to apologise for the disruption caused during the past few months. It is aware the service remains inconsistent across some parts of the borough, although it does continue to improve.
Cllr Stuart Jeffery, Leader of MBC said:
We would like to thank residents for your patience and we apologise for the disruption caused. It has been a real priority to get this service right and your help has been invaluable. Please continue to let us know when things go wrong so that we can address the problems quickly.We do know that improvements still need to be made to the service, however we are pleased that there has been a substantial improvement since the start of the service and that the vast majority of rounds are now being collected on time. The Council is working closely with our contractor SUEZ to rectify any remaining issues, however we will be implementing the penalty clause mechanism within the contract when their performance falls below the required level.
SUEZ are making positive changes which include two new permanent rounds with two extra vehicles and associated crews each day.
The Council’s customer service phone lines remain busy with a higher number of enquiries than usual and MBC thanks everyone for their patience. However, to save people waiting on the phone people are encouraged to use the MBC website where the waste collection service page contains updates with the latest information and provides access to reporting forms. MBC Waste Collection Service
MBC continues to review all responses received in order to help develop a shared understanding of the hot spots affected. This information helps to improve the reliability of the new service and although the Council may not be able to respond directly to all queries, it thanks everyone for taking the time to provide the information which is being shared with SUEZ.
MBC started a new service contract on 25 March with SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK Ltd who are now responsible for the waste and recycling collections across the borough.