Green bin collections across Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire are being suspended from Monday (13 December) because of the number of drivers and loaders absent – particularly with Coronavirus or self-isolating.

After Monday (13 December), green bin collections will be suspended and are planned to resume on Wednesday 12 January 2022 in line with the previously published Christmas schedule.

In addition to staff shortages due to COVID-related reasons (sickness and self-isolation), there is a continued national shortage of HGV drivers as well as a lack of agency staff because of demand for them elsewhere such as in supermarkets and at online delivery services.

The suspension will allow crews to concentrate on emptying black and blue bins during the festive period when more waste and recycling is traditionally generated.

Back in the summer, when the green bin service was threatened, the Councils gave advance warning that collections could be disrupted due to the pandemic causing staff shortages.

During the green bin suspension, the advice for garden waste is to store this in the green bin or in a plie in the garden, or home compost, until collections resume. If necessary, it can be taken to the household recycling centres at Milton or Thriplow.

As always, residents are being encouraged to waste as little food as possible, so they have less to throw away. For this period only, residents who do have food waste are being asked to put it into the black bin. Changes are now being made to update the online bin collection calendars at www.scambs.gov.uk/recycling-and-bins a to reflect the suspension of green bin collections.