New recycling bin collections announced after heatwave hit waste services in South Tyneside

South Tyneside Council announced on Tuesday, July 19, that recycling bins would not be collected under measures to cope with the extreme heat.

Temperatures reached around 32C in the borough, and the mercury rose above 40C for the first time on record in the UK, with a mix of red and amber weather warnings in place.

Council chiefs said a range of ‘business continuity measures’ were in place to help keep workers safe and ensure core services were running.

They said recycling bins would not be collected so teams can ‘focus on other operations’, and rearrangements would be announced in the coming days.

Today, a council spokeswoman said: “The recycling bins not collected yesterday will be collected over Thursday, Friday and Monday.

"Residents whose bins were not collected are being advised to leave their bins out on those days until collection.

"A reminder not to leave bins out over the weekend has been issued.”

Domestic, garden and trade waste, together with bulky collections, went ahead as normal on Tuesday.

Speaking on Tuesday morning, Councillor Ernest Gibson, Lead Member for Transport and Area Management, explained why collections had been affected.

“First and foremost we must take care of our staff,” he said.

"The Met Office has issued its first-ever level four extreme heat warning with temperatures expected to reach a record high.

“Considering the really hot weather and the physically demanding role of our waste collection teams, we are having to implement business continuity measures to safeguard our workers while ensuring the delivery of core services.

“Please be assured that we will be doing all we can to maintain a full waste collection service over the coming weeks, but there may be some disruption.

“Collections may be earlier or later than usual as we try to minimise how much time our crews spend working in the extreme heat and at peak times of the day.

“We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and would ask residents for understanding at this time.”

For further information about waste services in South Tyneside, visit www.southtyneside.gov.uk/waste