Buckinghamshire Council has finally restarted its food waste collection service in Amersham after a four-month hiatus.
The council stopped collecting food waste separately to regular waste in August, due to a shortage of HGV drivers, coupled with COVID-related sickness amongst crews.
After hiring people with “a lesser HGV driving license”, residents can now put out their food waste in its separate brown bin on their usual collection day.
Councillor Peter Strachan, cabinet member for climate change and the environment, said: “Thank you to residents in the Chiltern and Wycombe areas for your patience while we dealt with the impact of the nationwide shortage of HGV drivers.
“It was clear during this time that many households were as keen as the council to see the return of the separate food waste collections as soon as possible. Your cooperation with these interim arrangements, whilst not ideal, has been appreciated.
“I welcome the efforts taken by all involved which have enabled us to return to separate food waste collections.”
Once more, food waste will be separately collected by dedicated teams. Material will again be treated at an anaerobic digestion plant, where it generates electricity.
In August, the council assured residents that the collection of food waste with general rubbish would only last for one month.
At the time, councillor Strachan said: “This is far from ideal, but our overall priority has to be keeping our waste collection service going for residents in this really difficult climate.
“By collecting food waste as general rubbish for a month, our drivers will be able to collect all waste in fewer rounds while we suffer staff shortage.
“I’m really sorry our customers in these areas are facing disruption and we hope that ultimately, this is a short-term issue. Please be assured we are all working very hard to address it.
Photo credit Buckinghamshire Council
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