News Getting waste collection right is top priority for MBC
Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) wants to reassure residents that getting the waste and recycling collections ‘right’ is its top priority.
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. The previous contract had expired and in accordance with public procurement rules, it was necessary to re-tender the service. Unfortunately, the new service has experienced operational issues leading to delays and missed waste collections.
Cllr Clive English, MBC Cabinet Member for Environmental Services and Enforcement explained:
As part of the waste and recycling service contract, new collection routes and vehicles were introduced that will ultimately make the service more resilient. These will require time before an optimum service can be achieved. However, the level of disruption from these changes has been higher than anticipated as the SUEZ teams become familiar with the new routes.It is essential that this service is running properly, and the Council is ensuring that our contractor, SUEZ, is working as hard and as quickly as possible to rectify all of the issues. We are sorry for the disruption caused to our residents and would like to thank them for their patience. The Council can reassure them that getting the service right is our top priority.
To remedy the situation, SUEZ has provided additional vehicles and staff to undertake catch-up rounds, whilst the new routes bed in. The Council has been redeploying some of its own staff to assist and is doing everything it can to support SUEZ during this transitional period.
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 the MBC website. The Council endeavours to update the waste collection service page and improve it with the latest information including details about bin collection days and how you can report a missed bin. The Council would like to encourage residents to use the website by going to: MBC Waste Collection Service
In addition, the Council provides a list of FAQs and responses about the new SUEZ contract: https://maidstone.gov.uk/home/primary-services/bins-and-recycling
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.