Stockton Council has said its new food waste collection scheme has faced “significant challenges” due to delays with the new waste collection vehicles and unprecedented levels of recycling presented at the kerbside.
A video was posted to social media which sparked anger among residents and Stockton MP Matt Vickers.
The video looks to show workers mixing waste after residents had separated them and put them out on the kerb.
Mr Vickers has slammed Stockton Council calling the scheme “utter chaos”, but said he does not blame “hardworking bin men”.
He said: “There have been numerous reports of residents doing the right thing – taking the time to sort their waste – only to see it all mixed up and thrown into the same wagon. That makes a sham of the entire process.
“This isn’t the fault of our hardworking bin men. They are doing a tough job. It is the result of a ridiculous new scheme introduced by Stockton Labour.
“Local residents pay some of the highest council tax in the country – the least we can expect is that our waste and recycling are properly collected on a regular basis. Expecting people to juggle six different bins while scrapping weekly collections is complete madness.
“Having warned about the consequences when the council proposed this, I have written to the chief executive of the council to think again about their approach. It simply isn’t working for local residents or the bin men who work hard day in, day out.”
Matt Vickers MP
Stockton Council said it appreciates it has been frustrating for residents who have embraced the new scheme and taken every effort to recycle as much as they can and apologised for any inconvenience caused.
Councillor Nigel Cooke, Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council’s cabinet member for environment, leisure and culture, said: “We want to thank our residents for their patience and understanding this week as we have got underway with our new waste and recycling collections.
“Delays with the new waste collection vehicles, problems with introducing a new scheme combined with unprecedented levels of recycling presented at the kerbside has caused significant challenges.”
Cllr Cooke also praised crews for their efforts as the efforts as they work through as many collections as they can.
He also reassured residents crews are collecting and separating waste and recycling correctly.
Cllr Cooke added: “Due to delays with the new waste collection vehicles, we are using some of our older wagons to complete as many collections as we can.
“If your recycling is collected using an older vehicle it will be sorted and separated at the recycling depot. Once all of the new waste collection vehicles arrive, separation will always be done at the kerbside.
“If your recycling wasn’t collected on Tuesday (March 31), Wednesday (April 1), or Thursday (April 2) we will aim to collect it on Saturday (April 4).
“Crews will start in the south of the borough, working towards the north and will work through as many of the missed collections as possible.”