CALLS have been made for more timely updates to disruptions to waste collections in Ceredigion.

At a meeting this week, councillors highlighted issues with missed collections – acknowledging that staff absence caused by Covid-19 had impacted recently – as a report on the waste management service was discussed by a council committee.

Information that had been requested by the committee related to efficiency benefits, fuel costs and wear and tear of waste vehicles since the new kerbside waste collection service came into force in 2019.

The report states that “a review of the service has not been possible due to the new ways of working that have been put in place in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and as such the new model has not been operating as designed for most of the two year period since it was introduced.”

Corporate manager environmental services Gerwyn Jones said that residual waste had reduced and the amount of food waste, recyclables and glass collected from the kerbside had increased but Covid-19 impacted figures from March 2020.

It also changed how crews worked with an increase in workload, overtime, costs and issues, he added, saying there was perhaps a need to “reduce people’s expectations” and all the information was available on Clic.

Disruptions are published on Clic, but Cllr Elizabeth Evans said that this should be done earlier in the because people check once and if nothing is listed at that time, expect their bins to be collected, adding that the service should be collating data relating to published service disruptions.

It was needed in order to “scrutinise properly” and see why and where the issues occurred, adding she spent most of a Monday dealing with complaints about rubbish collection in Aberaeron.

Cllr Rhodri Davies added knowing of disruptions sooner was beneficial for people who had to take their rubbish to the end of a lane and if it is not collected leave it out until it is.

“I understand it’s difficult for officers and the staff but we need to continue to contact residents to inform them of the situation,” he added.

In the next three to six months the plan is for the service to revert to operating as designed and reinstate the bulky household and garden waste services, review kerbside collection service needs including labour and fleet and procure waste transfer site capacity in south Ceredigion.

Medium and long-term plans are also included in the report to committee such as reviewing household waste site usage, review of the business case for Penrhos waste transfer site, reviewing kerbside collection options and implement the new waste management strategy for Ceredigion.