Temporary Waste Drop-off Points Amid Bin Strike
Residents can drop off their excess waste at temporary disposal points in South Tyneside as the Council continues to work hard to minimise the impact of bin strikes across the Borough.
The Council is working with its partners to provide drop off points in the community to support greater access to facilities and make it easier for people to dispose of their extra bagged household waste.
Skips will be sited at nine locations across the Borough and available every day starting from tomorrow -Saturday 27th January until Saturday 3rd February inclusive.
Sites will operate from 9am until 3:30pmeach day at:
- Boldon Colliery - car park at The Shack, NE35 9AL;
- Hebburn - Hebburn Central car park to side, NE32 1AB;
- Hebburn - Clegwell Community Association, Mountbatten Avenue, NE31 2QP;
- Horsley Hill - car park at rear of shops on Centenary Avenue, NE34 6RF;
- Jarrow - Tyne Street car park, NE32 3PR;
- South Shields - Temple Park Centre car park, NE34 8QN;
- South Shields - One Trinity Green side car park, NOT rear, NE33 1SA;
- South Shields - Winchester Street car park, NE33 2PS;
- Whitburn - car park behind Latimers, SR6 7NT.
The drop off points are for bagged domestic household waste only. Locations have been identified to ensure there is adequate access for vehicles.
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. Prohibited materials could endanger the workforce.
Residents are advised to continue storing recyclable materials wherever they can or dispose of any excess at the Recycling Village. For those taking materials to the Recycling Village, visitors are reminded they need to be separated into cardboard, glass and plastic.
A Council spokesperson said: "We know that these new drop-off sites will not meet the needs of every individual household, but we are committed to doing everything we can, within our power and capabilities, to minimise the impact of the ongoing action being taken by waste collection crews.
"These skips will support residents to dispose of waste from their own household, or their neighbour's properties, so long as it is secured in bags.
"We appreciate that not everyone will be able to get to these drop-off points, which is why we would appeal for people to support their family, friends and neighbours wherever possible during these difficult times.
"We hope that this new temporary arrangement goes some way to help alleviate the burden on the people of South Tyneside. It's just one of the measures we have put in place as part of our contingency planning. Please bear with us.
"Unfortunately, recent bad weather has exacerbated the situation with litter being strewn across the Borough. We are working with our partners to deal with this as soon as possible."
The intention is that full skips will be regularly exchanged for an empty skip throughout the day until 3.30pm. If skips are full, don't leave waste at the side of the skips. Please return later. There will be no skips in place overnight.
The Council has already temporarily increased the opening hours (8am to 7pm) and weekly number of slots available (by an extra 2,350 per week) at its Recycling Village on Middlefields Industrial Estate to help support residents to dispose of their excess waste.
The number of visits per month for households with cars has also been doubled, from four to eight, while disruption continues.
With around 12 per cent 'no shows' reported daily, residents are asked to cancel their booking if not needed, to free it up for others. This includes anyone who has a Recycling Village slot booked but now decides to use one of the temporary drop-off points.
GMB and UNITE union members in the Council's waste collection services are due to return to work from Tuesday 30 January following a fourth wave of industrial action.
However, operatives are continuing to take action on non-strike day, which is contributing to some bins not being collected on residents' scheduled collection days - or at all, due to crews not completing their rounds within the week.
To prevent further build-up of general waste, which is a greater public health risk, and to mitigate the impact of Friday collections regularly being missed, the Council has made changes to collection patterns. From Tuesday 30 January, residents are asked to present their grey household waste bin only every day (Tuesday to Friday, from 7.30am), until it is collected.
The Council's Customer Contact Centre is experiencing a high volume of calls relating to the industrial action.
To support staff to deal with other calls, 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).
The Council is fully aware of the legal position and limitations in respect of work undertaken during periods of industrial action. Residents are assured that any mitigation measures put in place fully comply with the law.