Many waste services remain under strain

The Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT) has said that waste services across the country are continuing to feel the impacts of coronavirus.

Run in collaboration with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC), the Local Government Association (LGA) and the National Association of Waste Disposal Officers (NAWDO), the Waste Impacts survey examines the impacts of coronavirus on waste services in England.

The latest survey was undertaken the week beginning 1 March and shows the pandemic continues to have a significant impact on services. Collection services are being affected by staff absences, with 44 per cent of responding authorities reporting absence due to self-isolation, and 31 per cent due to sickness. Social distancing measures are also reducing collection teams’ capacity, with 38 per cent of responding councils identifying this as a reason for disruption.

ADEPT reports that food waste collections are the worst hit, with 35 per cent of collection authorities reporting problems. A fifth reported minor disruption to core refuse collection services and 23 per cent have reported minor or moderate disruption to core recycling collections. Conversely, garden and bulky waste collection service provision has improved significantly over the previous period (w/c 15 February).

Less than a third of councils report Household Waste Recycling Centre service provision to be operating normally.

Steve Palfrey, chair of ADEPT’s Waste Group, said: “Waste services continue to experience levels of disruption mostly due to the impacts of staff absence, whether through sickness or self-isolation.

“The fact that the volume of domestic waste and recycling has increased significantly almost certainly reflects the shift in workplace pattern, with many more people consistently working from home over the past year. This is borne out by a corresponding reduction in commercial waste, reflecting the impacts of lockdowns and social distancing requirements on business premises.

“Again, I would like to thank our teams for working so hard through such a lengthy lockdown period to maintain services despite such difficult circumstances.”