Waste Drop-off Sites Return to Support Bin Collections Backlog

Temporary waste drop-off points are being reinstated this Bank Holiday weekend to support South Tyneside residents to dispose of their excess general household and recyclable waste.

South Tyneside Council continues to deal with a build-up of waste as a result of ongoing delays to day-to-day bin collections across the Borough, with some rounds being missed completely.

To help clear the backlog, skips are being reinstated from this Saturday 25 May to Monday 27 May (inclusive) and from Saturday 1 June to Monday 3 June inclusive, from 9am to 3pm, at the following locations:

• Boldon Colliery - car park at The Shack (general waste skip);
• Hebburn - Hebburn Central car park to the side (general waste skip);
• Hebburn - Clegwell Community Association, Mountbatten Avenue (one general waste, one recycling waste);
• Jarrow - Hedworthfield Community Association, Cornhill (pedestrian access ONLY; one general waste skip);
• South Shields - car park at rear of shops on Centenary Avenue (two general waste skips);
• South Shields - Chuter Ede Hut, Galsworthy Road, car park opposite flats (not main car park, one general waste skip and one recycling skip);
• South Shields - One Trinity Green side car park (one general waste skip);
• South Shields - Winchester Street car park (one general waste skip);
• Whitburn - car park behind Latimers(one general waste and one recycling skip).

The general waste drop-off points are for bagged domestic household waste only. Sites are NOT for the disposal of trade waste including asbestos, DIY waste and rubble, medical, flammable or hazardous materials, gas bottles or furniture items. Skips have to be hand sorted at the Council's transfer station and prohibited materials could endanger the workforce.

Recycling drop-off points are for the dry mixed recyclable materials that residents would normally dispose of in their blue recycling bins only. No plastic bags or black sacks will be accepted: please empty materials into the skips.

The intention is that full skips will be regularly exchanged for an empty skip throughout the day until 3pm. If skips are full, do not leave waste at the side of the skips. Please return later. There will be no skips in place overnight.

Full details of skip location and guidance is available at Waste Disposal Industrial Action - South Tyneside Council

Residents can also dispose of their excess waste at the Recycling Village at Middlefields Industrial Estate. To book a slot at the Recycling Village visit www.southtyneside.gov.uk/recyclingvillage Residents are asked to cancel their booking if not needed or if they choose to use one of the skips for waste disposal.

A South Tyneside Council spokesperson said: "We understand how frustrating and challenging the situation is for all our residents and we thank everyone for their patience. We appreciate people are sick and tired of the situation. We continue to work extremely hard to mitigate the impact of bin rounds running behind as much as we can, including bringing in additional resources wherever possible.  

"We are aware of the concerns relating to the build-up of waste and residents being repeatedly affected by disruption to bin collections. For this reason, we are reintroducing the temporary waste drop-off sites to help alleviate the issue.

"We appreciate that not everyone can get to the drop off points, or the Recycling Village, which is why we appeal for people to support each other and help family, friends and neighbours if they can.

"We are also looking at what else we can do, exploring all options, to help clear the backlog of collections and will update residents in due course regarding any catch-up service we may be able to provide."

The rolling programme of bin collections continues from Tuesday to Friday with crews picking up where they left off each working day. Residents are asked to present all bins for collection and leave them out until one is collected. This includes green bins for those subscribed to the garden waste collection service.

Earlier this month (May), following intensive discussions, the GMB trade union agreed to pause industrial action to provide a period of respite and stability and support the delivery of an Action Plan in line with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which was approved and signed by both the Council and GMB.

The Action Plan includes a re-balancing of the bin collection rounds - a fundamental ask of the waste crews - as well as the renewal and upgrading of equipment and putting stronger engagement, communication and behaviour protocols in place.The Council is working hard to address this at pace and continues to encourage the workforce to engage in this process.

The Council spokesperson added: "Our Customer Contact Centre is experiencing a high volume of calls relating to bin collections. To support out staff to deal with other calls, we would appeal for residents not to contact the Customer Contact Centre with individual enquiries on when their bins will be collected while we work through these challenges. We also don't hold live information about individual addresses."

Residents with waste related queries are encouraged to visit the Council's website at www.southtyneside.gov.uk in the first instance where they will find further information including a set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).