Residents fear Christmas bin collection 'nightmare'

Residents are worried their rubbish will not be collected by Christmas as a row develops between a local authority and a contractor over suspended bin collections.

Central Bedfordshire Council halted its recycling service on Friday, saying it had refused to accept a huge increase in the contract fee with a single day's notice.

The contractor, AWM, said the council had refused to discuss new contract arrangements needed after a recycling site caught fire.

The council's leader said he hoped households would have to miss only one collection before a new contractor was found.

Speaking to the BBC, Adam Zerny, the Independent leader of the council, said: "The contractor has told us that the costs that they have incurred through a fire on their site they wish to pass on to the council and, therefore, to the public.

"They have told the council the costs would double with immediate notice, so the council has, quite rightly, said they're not going to pay the costs, and the bin collections will not carry on in the interim."

AWM, which is responsible for treating dry recyclable waste, said in a statement: "A fire at Associated Waste Management (AWM)'s materials recycling facility in Barkston in late October meant that the company was unable to continue processing waste at that location.

"AWM offered its customers, including Central Bedfordshire Council, a temporary contingency solution within the terms of the existing contract.

"Central Bedfordshire Council declined to engage in relation to the new temporary contract proposal and disregarded communications from mid-November that explained that without an agreed contract, AWM could no longer provide services."

AWM described the council's version of events as "misleading".

The local authority insisted discussions had been held with the contractor about the price before the service was suspended, but they had not been concluded. The council said it "had responded to all emails".

Residents in Flitwick, which is part of the district, are starting to feel the effects of the dispute.

"There's going to be lots of rubbish building up near Christmas and we'll need to take it all to the tidy tip," said Danny Jones who lives in a home with three other adults and two children.

He explained that while it is only recycling affected, his bin is already "full with cardboard or plastic so there will be a build up".

Speaking on the day bins are usually collected he said he was "not very happy" about having to dispose of his own waste, but had managed to secure a space at his nearest tip when the news first broke.

He continued: "It's just an extra job, especially when we pay our rates and they're expensive as it is.

"Without clearing it we'll just have a real big heap of it."

Resident Keith Freshwater said his stress was alleviated by the council promising a replacement service soon and was "not too concerned at the moment".

He said: "If it was our actual waste it would be more of a problem. If it's recycling, at the end of the day, we can always take it to the tidy tip if we're that worried.

"I know I probably shouldn't say so but I'm sure some people will chuck it in with their regular rubbish, which defeats the object but some people might choose to do that."

While he observed it was "not ideal timing" this close to Christmas, as people are receiving regular deliveries, he feels he has "bigger things to worry about".

Zerny said council officers were working hard to find a new contractor.

Carys Davies, a mother of two, describes the situation as "an absolute nightmare".

"It's a massive obstruction to our daily lives at the moment because the only way we can rid of our rubbish is if we go to the tip, and that's going to be extra booked-up," she said.

She too was worried other residents will start mixing their recycling into their general rubbish.

Speaking of her neighbours, she added: "I think we're all just trying to think of best ways to deal with it.

"Especially the ones with kids... With Christmas coming there's going to be a lot of packaging, a lot of wrapping, that you want to be hiding- that's going to be really hard.

"The advice we've been given is to keep it in our house, if we can, or take it to the tip, but to be honest that's not going to work in a house with loads of kids".

"I don't have the much room in my house to be honest."

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