Issue - items at meetings - CityClean Refuse and Recycling Collection Complaints

Report of the Director of Environment.

17.1    The Assistant Director CityClean presented the report on the number and type of complaints about refuse and recycling collections across the city. The data showed trends over one year before, during and after the changes to the rounds and introduction of communal bins in central parts of the city.

17.2    The graphs show the number of complaints for each of recycling collections, refuse collections and communal bins. When put in context, the maximum number of complaints per month represented less than 1% of all households for each of missed recycling and missed refuse collections.

17.3    Regarding communal bins, though the number of bins has increased from 200 in August 2008 to 700 now, the number of complaints per bin has decreased from 5.5% to 2.9%.

17.4    The aim was still to get all complaints levels lower, speed up response times and increase customer satisfaction levels.

17.5    Answering questions the Assistant Director CItyclean said there had been problems with handling the volume of telephone calls and emails because of the scale of the changes and slow back office systems. The level of complaints and telephone call abandon rates are reducing as the services settle down. The ICT team are fully involved in improving the systems operating across Cityclean.

17.6    Recycling rates at area or ward level were difficult to assess as most refuse and recycling rounds do not match. With regard to the potential for communal bin recycling and a recycling campaign this is included in the Waste Strategy which has been subject to public consultation and more research on waste content was being planned.

17.7    The Committee also discussed the timing of trade waste collections, wheelie bin lids and green waste collections.

17.8    RESOLVED 1) that the trends in the complaints in relation to refuse, recycling and communal bins be noted

(2)       that the plans to further improve service quality now that efficiency savings have been delivered and operational changes have bedded in, also be noted.