Rubbish and recycling|

Garden waste collections temporarily suspended – 19 January

Garden waste collections have been temporarily suspended in Wokingham Borough due to Covid-19. Our waste collection contractor Veolia have made the difficult decision to suspend garden waste collections from  today (19 January) until Monday (25 January) when Veolia are aiming to restart the service.

This is due to Covid-19 impacting 40 per cent of Veolia’s staff. There have been a small number of confirmed cases but, due to close contacts, a high number of staff are having to self-isolate.

By suspending garden waste Veolia can continue to provide weekly general waste, recycling and food waste collections.

Temporarily stopping garden waste collection services, is happening up and down the country as Covid-19 creates staffing issues for councils and waste contractors around the UK. Many have completely suspended services for extended periods.

This is the third time we’ve had to temporarily suspend the garden waste collections this month but this will be a longer pause than previously and there will be no catch up collections this time. If your garden waste bin is currently at the kerbside and has not been collected by the end of the day, please take it back in and hold onto it until your next regularly scheduled collection day.

At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the council extended the current garden waste service for the 2020 – 2021 contract for an additional month to allow for any disruptions to the service due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Those who are signed up for garden waste are getting two additional collections dates compared to a normal year. It’s hoped most residents are not missed more than once and we continue to work with Veolia to get the services restarted as soon as possible.

You should assume collections will restart on Monday (25 January) and garden waste should be put out if you are due a collection then. If this is not the case the council will inform you.

Government guidance is to stay at home during the national lockdown but the re3 recycling centres at Longshot Lane, Bracknell, and Smallmead, Reading, remain open as a key public service. If you are unable to store your waste at home or wait to visit, then you can book a slot to visit via the click and tip service.

Thank you for your patience at this time, we appreciate the stop-start nature of the collections can be frustrating. We will continue to keep you informed with new information as we are able to provide it.

We will continue to provide updates to residents as the situation changes, sign up for our email updates including our weekly rubbish and recycling newsletter.

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