* The troliboc at the centre of the new waste collection system.
Denbighshire County Council is to consider paying for extra vehicles and staff at a cost of over £1m to help overcome major problems created by its troubled new household waste collection system.
Since its introduction at the start of June there has been a catalogue of problems with late or missed collections right across the county, including Llangollen.
At a special meeting of its cabinet next Tuesday afternoon members will be asked to approve the purchase of the new vehicles in a bid to ensure the service can be delivered on a sustainable footing, according to a report from the council’s Corporate Director: Environment and Economy & Head of Highways & Environmental Service.
The report says: On 3rd June 2024 the council implemented a new waste/recycling service. The costs for the service change was originally approved by Cabinet on 19th December 2018 and was subsequently reviewed by Cabinet on 12th April 2022.
“Much has changed during this time, including key variables associated with this service change (e.g. increases in construction costs, costs of vehicles, development of more housing in the County requiring a waste service etc).
“It soon became apparent after the roll out of the new service that some of the assumptions were flawed.
“The main issue being some of the daily recycling rounds had been designed with too many properties requiring collection. This meant we were seeing several rounds per day not completing, resulting in large and unacceptable numbers of missed collections.
“There will be full review of how the roll out was planned and implemented which will include an examination of the assumptions underpinning the design of the new service.”
The report goes on: “Without committing additional resources the new service cannot be delivered successfully and sustainably and we will continue to spend significantly more on inefficient short term day to day decisions to ensure missed collections are minimised/corrected.
“The day-to-day management decisions since the roll out have focused on the hire of additional vehicles, increase in the use of agency staff, and the use of overtime for existing staff.
“In order to put the new waste/recycling rounds on a sustainable footing additional recycling rounds are required. The original model as rolled out was based on 20 rounds per day. The number of additional rounds required ranges from 6 to 8 rounds depending on the day of the week.
“This requires the purchase of an additional 8 vehicles at a capital cost of £1.299m and additional drivers and loaders to operate the vehicles.
“If this additional budget is approved, then we can immediately plan to implement the necessary changes, and the introduction of the additional rounds can commence within week’s of today’s Cabinet meeting.”
* The full report to be considered by cabinet members next Tuesday is at: Denbighshire County Council - Agenda for Cabinet on Tuesday, 1 October 2024, 2.00 pm
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