Lockdown causes waste collection delays in City of Sydney

By EVA BAXTER

Some residents in the City of Sydney Council area have reported that the collection of their waste, recycling, and garden organics has been delayed.

A City of Sydney spokesperson said given the changing requirements of public health orders restricting movement of people across greater Sydney and in cases where workers have had to isolate, some delays to services have occurred.

Cleanaway, the waste management provider which collects bins in the City of Sydney area said they are grappling with challenges faced due to the pandemic, including employees contracting COVID-19 and bringing it into the workplace.

“We have very strong COVID-19 plans in place to deal with this including isolating close and casual contacts. In these circumstances, although we have a number of contingencies, there could be potential impact to operations,” a Cleanaway spokesperson said.

The compliance of garbo’s getting vaccinated has been good, according to Cleanaway.

“Our employees are rolling up their sleeves and getting the jab to keep their families, colleagues and the community safe.”

Customer service 

Ultimo resident Alex McDermott contacted City of Sydney Council customer service in August regarding his green garden organics bin and his yellow recycling bin, both of which were not picked up on schedule.

In correspondence seen by City Hub Alex wrote to the customer service officer, “yellow bin is overflowing … it has been out since last week when it was not picked up and people are dumping their own rubbish in it. Green bin is still not collected.”

The yellow bin was then collected on the usual day, but a week late.

On Friday September 3 the Council customer service officer sent what would be his final email to Alex, in which he said he would follow up regarding the green bin.

From September 3 to September 22 Alex sent five emails to the same customer service officer, all of which went unanswered.

Alex’s green bin has still not been removed.

Unfamiliar routes

The City of Sydney spokesperson said the City of Sydney is a tricky area for waste collection, with multiple laneways on routes.

“As a result of the health orders, there has been the need to reallocate workers in order to meet the collection schedules.

“Some of these crews are servicing new routes they are not familiar with, which means we are more likely to receive reports of missed collections.

“When we receive these reports, we return to collect the waste as soon as possible,” the spokesperson said.

City of Sydney said throughout the lockdown the collection of general waste and recycling as per the normal schedule has gone ahead with minimal disruptions.

For more information about City of Sydney waste removal go to: city.sydney/waste.