Monday 22 April
We have started seeing some progress today and we are continuing to see improvements to waste and recycling collections.
However, we are aware that there are some of you who may not have had your bins collected, we are aware and are actively working on getting this resolved and continually working on improvements. If your bin has been missed, please do report it to us using the online tool.
We also have additional staff, both newly recruited and joining us from SUEZ, coming to work with us to help us not only with collections and catch ups, but to help improve the rounds to make them as efficient and effective as possible.
Wednesday 17 April
We’re continuing to work through the backlog of collections, and the scheduled rounds are seeing improvements now extra resource is available.
More staff are starting this week, and crews are planned to be out on Saturday to try to complete all of this week’s scheduled collections.
We know there are still outstanding collections, which Suez are working to collect, so please report these if you haven’t already so we can make sure they’re allocated to a catch up round (link in comments).
Monday 15 April
We had five crews out over the weekend catching up on missed collections and they made some good progress, though they didn’t to get everywhere we'd have liked.
There were three additional crews working to support the catch up today, and we have a further three planned for tomorrow. As mentioned before, the focus of these catch ups is the delayed general waste and food collections.
The collections scheduled for today once again struggled to complete the narrow vehicle rounds. We know these routes aren't working as hoped and there will be some changes this week. There may need to be further changes to these in future and some properties may have a change in collection day, but we'll let people know if we need to do that.
If we haven't emptied your bins when you expected, and if you haven't reported it already, please let us know and leave the bin out - we'll try to get to it as soon as possible.
Friday 12 April
We have crews planning to go out tomorrow to catch up on missed collections which will be an ongoing process that will take some time.
The initial focus of the catch up rounds will be general waste and food, particularly areas where collections have been missed more than once.We’ve also updated the missed bin reporting form.
If you’re reporting a missed collection, it should now be clearer to you if we already know it is not collected, so you won’t need to submit another report.
Thursday 11 April
Scheduled collection rounds made good progress today but we know we didn’t get to everyone. A number of new drivers started today and we have seen a positive impact, particularly with catching up on communal collections.
We have catch up crews planned for tomorrow and Saturday, so if your collection has been missed, please leave your bins out and we will try to get to them as soon as we can.
We also know we need to do more on litter bin emptying and are prioritising these on the street cleansing side of the contract.
Today Swale Borough Council and Suez issued an apology for the disruptions that have taken place in the early weeks of the new waste contract. You can read the full apology online here.
Wednesday 10 April
Today has been a better day for scheduled collections, we are getting closer to the completion rates we would expect at this early stage, but know much more can be done. If your collection has been missed, please leave it out and we will try to get to it as soon as we can.
We are hopeful that the new drivers starting tomorrow will allow us to increase the number of crews we have completing catch up rounds across the borough.
We've created a page where you can find out more about the issues you've raised with us about the new contract so far, and hopefully answers some of your questions.
Tuesday 9 April
Suez have brought in additional resource this week which will start to positively impact collections in the coming days and improve our ability to complete collections and catch up on missed bins throughout this week and into next week.
We know there are still some outstanding bins from last week, and we are sorry if you haven't had yours collected. Suez are working on plans to help catch up on outstanding collections, which we will provide updates on in the coming days.
In the meantime, if your scheduled bin collections are missed, please leave the bins out so they're available for collection.
Monday 8 April
We know there are still some outstanding bins from last week, we are sorry if you haven't had yours collected.
Our leader and chief executive spoke to the chief executive of Suez this morning to share our concerns with how the contract has started. He assured them they would continue to do all they can to improve the performance, and confirmed they are working on plans to catch up on outstanding collections, and we'll provide further updates this week.
Suez are in the process of bringing in additional resource which will start to positively impact collections in the coming days and through into next week.
In the meantime, if your bins are missed, please leave them out so they're available for collection.
Saturday 6 April
If you had your missed bin out today but it has not been collected, then please bring it back in and present it on its next scheduled collection.
We are sorry if it hasn't yet been collected, and will be able to give you a better picture of the recovery plan moving forward early next week.
We understand your frustrations and thank you for continuing to bear with us while we settle in to the new service.
Friday 5 April
We have reached the end of the first two week cycle of the new contract and we know we have not reached everyone’s bins this week.
While we will have three fully staffed crews out tomorrow (Saturday), it is unlikely that we will be able to complete all missed collections. If your bin has been missed, please leave it out as crews will be trying to collect what they can.
If it has not been collected by 4pm on Saturday then please bring it back in and present it on its next scheduled collection day.
We will be able to give you a better picture of the recovery plan moving forward early next week.
We know this has been a frustrating few weeks for some of you and we understand the disappointment in the service those of you affected are getting so far.
Please accept our apologies in this period. We want to let you know that we have been reading and taking onboard your comments to help us improve the service.
Thank you for bearing with us while we work alongside Suez to resolve these issues.