I’ve seen supermarket lorries on the roads, so why can’t the refuse collections be done?

The refuse vehicles have to collect from side roads which are not routinely cleared of snow and become very icy. Please remember that although main roads may be fairly clear or may have been gritted, the side roads, where most homes are located, could continue to be extremely icy and dangerous.

Once a 26 ton refuse vehicle starts to skid on an icy road, it is very difficult to stop it. The last thing the council wants is an accident and we have to think carefully about that when deciding whether to continue with collections.

Wherever possible, we will try using much smaller trucks, which can carry between 1.5 and 2.5 tonnes of waste to start clearing the backlog. We may need to give priority to on-street and community bins, which generally serve blocks of flats. Our waste and recycling collection and street cleaning teams will also try and remove any black sacks that are due to be collected if they can safely do so.

Keep in mind that another problem during severe weather is that the waste disposal and recycling sites, which are located near Canterbury, may be experiencing bad weather as well and may be closed. If that happens, we may not be able to empty the waste we are able to collect.

The pavements are just as dangerous for the crew as they are for anyone else, especially if they are trying to manoeuvre wheeled bins, which can be very heavy when full, across icy pavements and pathways. The last thing the council wants is an accident or for one of its staff to slip over and injure themselves.