“There are streets which are consistently missed, time and time again, and we really need to get those under control.”
A Belfast Councillor has described the start of the new bin tagging system in the city as a “disaster,” as elected representatives at City Hall lined up to highlight problems with the new system.
On Monday a new tagging system in the city, encouraging households to put items in the right bins, stop overflowing containers, and avoid giant liner use, began its roll-out.
Bins which breach the new rules, for example bins that cannot have their lid closed, will receive a “first warning” amber tag, but will be emptied. From September 29, red tags will be issued for bins which continue to overflow, or have a liner covering the entirety of the interior – and they will not be emptied.
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From this date no extra bin bags beside bins will be lifted, and incorrect items in any bin could also mean no collection. The council says the new system has been introduced to make it safer for operatives to empty bins into lorries on collection day.
At the August meeting of the council’s People and Communities Committee at City Hall on Tuesday (August 5), councillors lined up to air their concerns to officials about the early roll-out of the new system.
DUP Councillor Sarah Bunting said at the meeting: “We have been supportive of this process, but we did say we would show issues that need to be ironed out, before we get to that red tag stage.
“I have been contacted by residents in Belvoir today about bins that have been missed again today. These are streets that are missed on a weekly basis, (streets) that basically make up a third of this estate, which has 1,500 homes in it. A large number of homes are being missed there.
“Nearby streets have been collected by the small bin lorries. The residents are frustrated that nearby bins are being lifted but they are being missed on a consistent basis.”
She said: “The Donegall Road area has seen some streets (not have bins emptied) for four to six weeks. Last week the cleansing staff in South Belfast, which are already over-stretched, had to make two trips in five days to clean alleyways in that area because the bins were overflowing.
“This is not the doing of the residents, this is because the lorries could not get down, and the bins were overflowing all over the alleyways.
“We have started with the roll-out of amber tags (while there are other) tags for heavy bins and contaminated bins, which is confusing things.”
She said: “The non collection of bins was something we raised when we started talking about this process. There are those streets which are consistently missed, time and time again, and we really need to get those under control. Because it is having a knock-on effect.”
Sinn Féin Councillor JJ Magee said: “ Belfast City Council has no plan for when bins are not lifted or missed – they leave residents to deal with it themselves. They leave residents to accumulate another six days of rubbish before they get round again to lift those bins. Nobody knows what to do with their bin (in this case), where it is gonna go, whether it will sit there for a week, or if it will be kicked over.”
He added: “Day one in New Lodge was an absolute disaster. Out of 37 bins only four were emptied, these are the same bins that were emptied last week, the week before, and the week before that, and for a month before that. Some of the tower blocks, the drivers just drove past, and didn’t even bother getting out of the lorries.
“Today they were back, at the expense of ratepayers, to lift the bins they had left behind, but out of 32 bins they only lifted 19, leaving 13 full, sitting on the streets, with rubbish getting blown out of them.”
He said: “I hope from here on in we can get our act together, get our bins emptied, and furthermore have some consultation with people, because it is not working at the moment.”
A council officer said: “We always knew there would be incidents or areas where we would get problems, but by and large, to date, we are not getting a lot of negative feedback to the implementation. I know it is very early.
“I know what happened around the New Lodge, and I am aware it is around the fact these bins did not have any lids, so we are working now with the Housing Executive to get lids placed on the bins.” He added: “Hopefully we will have a better picture for members in the September update.”
Sinn Féin Councillor Róis Máire Donnelly said: “In the area I represent, we already have a massive issue, where people are leaving rubbish at the back of other people’s houses. I have a fear that this is going to exacerbate that and make it more difficult.” She said there should be extra communication from the council to make residents aware of the bulky waste service, and the availability of free additional recycling bins.
DUP Councillor Nicola Verner said: “I feel we need to look at hotspots areas to be proactive with addressing any language barriers, as opposed to being reactive to the fall-out from not understanding the regulations.”
A council officer replied: “It is a fair point, and is something that the project team is aware of. They have been working on getting information available in different languages.”
Council officials will bring a further update on the new system in five weeks time at the September meeting of the People and Communtites Committee.
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