Plans to empty bins earlier and get bin men to work on bank holidays are being considered by waste bosses.Officials at South Kesteven District Council (SKDC) are considering getting refuse collectors to start emptying bins at 7am instead of 7.30am across the district.Residents can put out wheelie bins and sacks from 6pm the evening before collection day and should take them back by 6pm after their collection.Bins could be emptied earlier under new plans. Photo: South Kesteven District CouncilWhen the weather is particularly hot, the council said it may collect bins before 7am but stressed this would be communicated to residents beforehand.Bosses are also planning to get staff to collect bins on bank holidays instead of emptying bins a day later as is the case currently.Cabinet member for environment and waste, Rhys Baker (Independent – Bourne Austerby) told members of SKDC’s environment overview and scrutiny committee on Tuesday that the earlier start times for bin collections were aimed at improving staff wellbeing. Coun Baker said: “This is largely to acknowledge some of the challenges we are seeing, particularly in the summer where things are getting very hot.Coun Rhys Baker. Photo LDRS“But it also allows for vehicles to move when traffic patterns can become a little more predictable.”Coun Baker also said that the council is planning to get staff to empty bins on bank holidays and pay them extra for working on these days. The costs of doing this have not yet been worked out. Under the plans, collections which fall on Easter Monday, early May bank holiday, spring bank holiday, and summer bank holiday will take place on the usual collection day and not be re-scheduled to accommodate the Bank Holiday.Coun Baker added: “We’re also suggesting that there are changes to the bank holiday working – whereas at the moment, we tend to delay our collections by one day.“Everything gets knocked along one. We are proposing that we do not delay our collections on bank holidays. “It has a number of wellbeing benefits for our staff, not least that they haven’t had an extra day or sometimes two days, if they have a later in the week collection worth of mass just to pick up – these things get heavy.“It also means that we don’t have to put any word out to see if anybody wants to work extra shifts on Saturday. It is a better deployment of council resources. It is more efficient.”Officials are also considering introducing communal food waste bins for residents who live in flats above shops.Kay Boasman, head of waste management and market services at SKDC, said: “The pilot options for flats above shops include communal food waste bins on the streets. “So, these look a bit like litter bins and it’s for residents who don’t have capacity to store a caddy to use.“There have been some issues with that just around marking and stickers and signposting – which we’re working on.“It is a pilot project. We want to get it right for those residents. We’re collating feedback and improving that as we go.”She added that the proposal would help to improve the efficiency and effectiveness” of the council’s food waste collections.A final decision on these proposals will be made at a later cabinet meeting.
Bins could be collected earlier and on bank holidays under new plans
