Food and garden waste collections to be suspended across all of Milton Keynes from tomorrow

The MK Citizen revealed earlier that refuse collectors at contractors Serco are worried about Covid after two of their colleagues died from the virus last week. See story here.

As a result, MK Council Cabinet member Councillor Emily Darlington said she would conduct an urgent investigation into allegations that Covid safety measures were not being fully followed at Serco.

The company denied the allegations and said safety of the workers was not being compromised.

But today MK Council has announced the suspension of services, which will apply to green bins only.

A spokesman said: "Covid-19 has had a significant impact on us all, and in MK the cases are seriously high. As a result of reduced staffing, we’re suspending food and garden waste collections throughout MK from Thursday 14 January until further notice.

"Our waste collection partner Serco has seen an increase of COVID-19 positive tests and staff requiring to isolate or shield. The situation is one that changes rapidly. In recent days nearly 40% of the waste collections teams have been unavailable. So, to protect our core services we now need to prioritise collection of black and clear sacks."

The spokesman added: "We appreciate this is an inconvenience to residents, and we are sorry for this. We will continue to do our best, with the support of our partners, to maintain services under difficult circumstances.

"The COVID-19 pandemic is a serious situation. As well as ensuring that protective measures are followed, we have arranged access for front line crew members to have rapid COVID-19 tests (with results known within an hour) to identify people who have the virus with no symptoms. Around one in three people with COVID-19 have no symptoms. These people can then isolate and break the chain of transmission."

The Food and Garden Waste suspension will be reviewed weekly and the council will try to give as much notice as possible when the service restarts.

"In the meantime, please dispose of food waste into black bags and keep any green waste in your garden," said the spokesman." MK’s tips remain open, although we do ask residents to consider whether any journey is essential, in light of the national lockdown. Black bag waste and clear recycling sacks will continue to be collected on your regular collection days. The waste collection pilot remains unaffected at this stage.

"We’re doing everything that we can to continue to provide essential services in these extreme circumstances and we thank you for continuing to support our crews as front line key workers."

To check your collection day please go to: https://www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/waste-recycling/collection-daysThe council is asking readers to help by sharing this important information with friends, family and neighbours and those without access to the internet.