Council wastes no time to end bin crisis after enlisting emergency garbos

After putting up with rubbish bins not being collected for weeks, the Moreton Bay region’s waste crisis is over. Contractor Cleanaway says it now has a plan in place to ensure it has enough garbos.

A shortage of garbos that led to the Moreton Bay region’s recycling bins not being emptied for three weeks has come to an end after contractor Cleanaway gained access to an emergency pool of drivers.

Last week residents were asked to keep their bins out on the footpath until Saturday to give them time to work through the backlog, which Mayor Peter Flannery said was unacceptable.

Cleanaway staff shortages since August 18 resulted in two to three trucks worth of recycling bin loads being missed throughout the region, leaving residents and the mayor frustrated.

The company said it had now gained access to an emergency driver pool of drivers to cover unplanned leave.

It worked all last weekend to pick up any recycling bins that had not been emptied after asking residents to leave bins out.

Services were back to normal from yesterday (September 12).

“Cleanaway apologises for any delay in collection services over the past few weeks,” a spokesperson said.

“To minimise any impact we prioritised general waste with the only disruptions being recycling collections.

“We have worked closely with Moreton Bay Regional Council and expect minimal impacts to services this week.

“Like all other industries we have been impacted by Covid, influenza and other unplanned leave.

“To address this we are actively recruiting new drivers to ensure there minimal disruptions to services.”

Cleanaway picked up any recycling bins in the Moreton Bay council area that weren’t emptied. Picture: File

Mr Flannery last week wrote to Cleanaway, saying the situation had gone on too long.

“Locals are frustrated by these delays, understandably, frankly I share their frustration,” he said.

“We have written to Cleanaway about the situation because it will become untenable if this continues.

“This is a service locals pay for through their rates, so we expect the contract services to be delivered.

“In the meantime, I again have to ask residents to just leave their bins out on the kerb until Cleanaway can get their trucks around to collect the recycling bin from your house.

“Check Council’s website and please leave your missed recycling bin by the kerbside on Saturday as catch up services are occurring then.

“Hopefully their staffing situation will be fixed shortly.”

Moreton Bay Mayor Peter Flannery. Picture: Liam Kidston

In an ABC Radio interview, Cleanaway‘s general manager of solid waste services for Queensland, Suzanne Wauchope, said the company was suffering from a labour shortage brought on by Covid, flu and unplanned leave.

“Anyone that’s looking for a driver at the moment, there’s a chronic shortage and it’s really difficult to attract people,” Ms Wauchope said.

“We have new drivers joining us all the time and several joining us in the next several weeks.”