Businesses faced closure and councillors were “misled” by the “disastrous” rollout of new bins in Aberdeen, the council’s infrastructure committee heard yesterday.
A tell-all report on the new bins before the committee showed a litany of problems, including the city council being around 10 drivers short of a full complement – forcing them to pay around £21,000 in overtime to Aberdeenshire refuse collectors.
Nearly 7,000 complaints of missed pick-ups were received by the council between February and September. To compound the issue, the city authority has recently seen the departure of waste and recycling manager Peter Lawrence.
SNP councillor for Midstocket and Rosemount Bill Cormie said Mr Lawrence had “misled” councillors about the scale of the problem and he still received daily complaints from constituents. He said: “Rosemount has been a complete and utter disaster. Some were given individual bins and the only place to put them is in front of shop windows. I had three businesses tell me they were almost going to the wall because people didn’t want to go in.
“Communal bins should have been introduced immediately. I find this a very damning report and it has been very hard for my constituents.”
SNP group leader Stephen Flynn asked officers four times what the cost was of providing the individual bins then replacing them with communal ones.They said the information wasn’t at hand.
But Conservative committee vice-convener Philip Bell said big changes would always lead to problems and said the council did not have a “crystal ball”.
He added: “I think it has been a big success really.”
Councils are increasing recycling rates ahead of tough landfill targets set by the Scottish Government. Biodegradable waste will be banned from landfill sites from 2020.
The committee heard strategies were being put in place to fill the gap in drivers – including recruiting former military personnel.
