Maggots spread as thousands of bins go uncollected

Many people in Milton Keynes have four bins for different types of rubbish, recycling and garden waste

Thousands of bins are going uncollected each week leading to maggots infesting rubbish, a councillor has said.

A staff absence rate of 10-15% has led to collections being missed in Milton Keynes in the last three or four weeks, according to city councillor Jennifer Wilson-Marklew.

The service worked on the basis of six crews being unavailable at any one time, but there were currently 12 unavailable and recent hot weather meant staff "find it much harder to work at pace", she said.

Contractor Suez said staff sickness combined with the peak summer holiday period had created "exceptional circumstances" which it was "working hard to resolve".

Jennifer Wilson-Marklew said the council was trying to make sure the same homes were not missed each week

Ms Wilson-Marklew, the Labour cabinet member for public realm, said householders were finding "maggots in their bins [and] they smell".

She said there was "frustration" that green bins, for garden waste, were being given the lowest priority at a time of "more volume" because of summer gardening.

But this free service that was not a legal requirement and some families "could not store a month's worth" of recycling, if those collections were missed instead, she said.

A new system of four wheelie bins was introduced in September 2023

Ms Wilson-Marklew said sickness rates were "significant and unanticipated" but staff who were on shift were "working really hard" and contractor Suez was "responding, listening to us and trying to find ways to minimise the impact on residents".

If a collection is missed, residents are advised to leave their bin out for a second day, but if it is still not emptied it should be taken in until the next scheduled collection day.

'Additional resources'

John Wrigley, regional director at Suez, said: “We are experiencing some delays to collections this week due to staff sickness combined with the peak summer holiday period.

"We’re pleased that we’ve had full completion of services for 2024 to date, and would like to assure residents that these are exceptional circumstances which we are working hard to resolve."

He apologised for any inconvenience and thanked residents "for their patience".

"Additional resources" were being brought in to minimise disruption, he said, and he thanked crews who were "working hard".