Suffolk Coastal MP Jenny Riddell-Carpenter revealed that 300 constituents had complained to her about the “failure” of the rollout of the Better Recycling scheme by East Suffolk Council, involving the introduction of a new wheelie bin and food caddies.

Meanwhile, Patrick Spencer, MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, said he too had been contacted by “a number of constituents” expressing frustrations about missed collections, delayed bin deliveries and poor communication.

Jenny Riddell-Carpenter, MP for Suffolk Coastal, said the rollout of the Better Recycling scheme in east Suffolk had not been good enough (Image: The Labour Party)

Previously, this newspaper has reported residents’ concerns that new food caddies had not been collected, while some new bins had not been delivered.

Leiston resident Carl Creed said his general rubbish bin had not been collected since May 20, while his food caddie had not been cleared since the Better Recycling scheme came into operation on June 1.

To make matters worse, he said he had been advised by the council to leave the general rubbish bin and food caddie out on Tuesday (June 16), but neither were collected on that day.

Customer services had now told him the bins would be collected on Friday (June 19).

Patrick Spencer, MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, called for a swift resolution to the problems with bin collections (Image: House of Commons)

“So if my maths are right and they do collect by June 19, it will be 31 days since council collected our general rubbish.

“Just not good enough. Very bad service and many unhappy customers who have had enough,” Mr Creed said.

Meanwhile, Aldeburgh resident Susan Thompson described the rollout as “absolute chaos” and said her food caddie had not been collected for two weeks running.

Ms Riddell-Carpenter said: “I’ve had over 300 constituents get in touch about the failure of the new waste and recycling scheme.

“Let me be clear: I support the aims of better recycling and weekly food waste collections.

The Better Recycling scheme has drawn criticism for missed collections and undelivered bins (Image: Better Recycling for Suffolk)

“This scheme should help residents recycle more easily and reduce waste.

“But the rollout by East Suffolk Council has not been good enough and the response to so called ‘teething problems’ has been wholly inadequate.

“This can’t continue.”

Mr Spencer said: “I have been contacted by a number of constituents who are rightly frustrated by missed collections, delayed bin deliveries, and poor communication during the rollout of the new recycling and food waste scheme.

 “Most residents recognise that a change of this scale may involve some initial challenges, but residents should expect a basic service to be delivered reliably.

Complaints have been made that food waste caddies have not been collected (Image: Lucy Taylor)

“Where households have gone weeks without collections, or have been unable to participate in the new scheme because their bins have not been delivered, that is simply not good enough.

“I have raised a number of these cases now directly with East Suffolk Council, and I will continue to press for a swift resolution.

“Residents need more action from the council to make sure bins are delivered, waste is collected, and service returns to the standard they should expect and deserve.”

Better Recycling has involved the introduction of a new 240-litre wheelie bin – grey with a green lid – and light grey food caddie to improve recycling rates and prevent cross-contamination of different recyclables.

The new green lid bin has been provided to separate paper and card from glass, plastics, metal and cartons which will continue to be disposed of in the existing blue lid recycling bin.

The caddie is being collected weekly, while there is a three-weekly general rubbish collection in the black lid bin; a three-weekly recycling collection for the blue lid bin and a three-weekly recycling collection for the new green lid bin.

Previously, the council has said there had been technical issues with specialist vehicles used to collect the food waste.

A spokesman for the authority said: “While the other new collection streams, including separate containers for paper and cardboard, are progressing smoothly, and the vast majority of households are receiving all collections as normal, the food waste element is continuing to encounter issues which are temporarily impacting the service.

“While we appreciate that this is frustrating, residents should continue placing their large food waste caddies out, as normal, on their assigned day for collection, with the handle up to lock it.

“If the caddy is not emptied on the assigned collection day, residents should bring it back in from kerbside and store outside with their other larger bins.

“We will then seek to ensure that locations which are missed will then receive a collection on their assigned day the following week.

“If the large caddy becomes full during this period, and there is further food waste to dispose of, residents are welcome to place this in their general waste bin for collection.”