Brown bin collections suspended
Collections of brown bins in West Lothian have been temporarily suspended between Thursday 6 January and Sunday 9 January 2022.
The move is due to increased covid-19 related absences, with current staffing levels meaning is it not possible to continue all services.
It will allow our crews to focus on collecting blue and grey bins to deal with increased waste and recycling generated over to the festive period.
Fewer brown bins are collected during the winter months due to less garden waste produced, meaning residents are likely to have more capacity for additional food waste and the forecast for ongoing low temperatures reduces any hygiene issues.
Residents with collections due between 6 and 9 January should put them out at their next scheduled collection dates.
A West Lothian Council spokesperson said: "We would like to give our sincere apologies to all local residents affected by the temporary suspension of brown bins collections.
"The increase in covid-19 related absence means we are simply not able to offer the full range of services as normal. Many other employers are in the same situation including the National Health Service (NHS), with transport operators such as Scotrail and Lothian Buses among those also having to reduce their services to focus on priorities in recent days.
"It is not possible to transfer more staff to support the service at this time, as other key services such as winter gritting also need to be made a priority in the current cold conditions forecast.
"Stopping brown bins collections will allow us to prioritise blue and grey collections, which are likely to be fuller at this time of year.
"We are aware that there are some bin collections are still outstanding from over the holiday period. Suspending these collections will allow our dedicated teams the chance to catch up on these missed collections as soon as possible."
For updates on collections, please visit Bin Collection Daily Updates. Unfortunately, we are not able to return to collect single missed bins or any not put out on the correct date.
To find your scheduled collection date please refer to your collection calendar or go to Bin Collection Calendar Dates, where you can also sign up for email reminders to ensure you don't miss a collection.
