Hundreds of kerbside bins in Christchurch getting missed for collection

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

From reporter Steven Walton:
---------
Kerbside bins are being missed for collection in hundreds of Christchurch streets.

Throughout November, December, and January, 756 streets did not get their bins emptied on the designated day, according to the Christchurch City Council.

The worst of those months was January, when 370 streets had their bins missed – an average of about 17 streets being missed each working day.

The council’s kerbside collection contractor, Waste Management, has a contractual target to miss less than an average of 1.5 streets per working day throughout a month. If a bin is missed, it is expected to be collected by the end of the next working day.

The council's resource recovery manager Ross Trotter said in a statement that the reason for the missed bins was “resourcing due to driver shortages”. He did not elaborate further.

Amalgamated Workers’ Union assistant secretary Lindsay Chappell said the pay for drivers was OK, but the issue was excessive hours.

Chappell said Waste Management was introducing new drivers to the industry, but they were not lasting because of the long hours. Continue reading here.