Possible disruption to waste collection next week – but keep calm and carry on!

Wiltshire Council are advising residents to put waste, recycling and garden waste bins out as normal ahead of planned industrial action from 7 March.

They are working with Hills Municipal Collections Limited to ensure minimum disruption is caused in the event of industrial action, which may begin next week and last for a fortnight. Although the number of union members likely to strike has been reduced following UNISON members accepting the pay deal, any industrial action is likely to cause some disruption to household waste, recycling and garden waste collection services, however Wiltshire Council and Hills will work to minimise the impact as much as possible.

Residents are advised that they should put their bins out for collection by 7am on their scheduled collection day. Visit Waste collection calendar and enter your postcode if you’re not sure when this is.

However, if a bin is not emptied as scheduled due to the planned industrial action or because of any other issues, then you should leave them out and it’s expected they will be emptied the following day where possible.

Cllr Dr Mark McClelland, Wiltshire Council Cabinet Member for Waste, said: “Our new waste collection rounds have gone really smoothly so far and I’d like to thank residents for their support during this transition.

“We will do everything we can to limit the disruption caused by the industrial action. We have contingency plans in place in case of a situation like this, which we hope will help to keep disruption for residents to a minimum.

“If there are any bins not emptied as scheduled then we ask people to leave them out and the teams will do their best to collect them the following day.

“The industrial action is out of our direct control and is a matter for the GMB and Hills Municipal Collections. However, I know that Wiltshire residents will share my bitter disappointment that we face an elevated risk of disruption to services due to this revised pay offer being rejected by the GMB.

“We would like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding during this time.”

If there are any significant disruptions to services people should visit the council’s waste page for updates or keep an eye on their Twitter feed – Wiltshire Council Twitter.