Hanwell seems to have fared the worst following the 'teething' problems with Ealing Council's new waste and recycling company.

One week after Enterprise took over from May Gurney a number of streets in the W7 area are still awaiting collection.

Local Councillor, Colm Costello, has reported that Shakespeare Road and Campbell Road near the station are still a mess with evidence of fly-tipping of garden waste.

Read his blog here - read Councillor Gary Malcom's assessment of the situation in the Southfield ward here.

Council leader, Julian Bell, has been responding to all reports via twitter and took to his bike to review the situation himself. He says extra crews have been put on duty to 'mop up'.

More than 1,000 angry residents throughout the borough have been inundating Ealing Council with phone, email and twitter messages following the failure to collect their recycling waste last week. 

There are fears about what will happen this week following the bank holiday.

There have been suggestions that the new rubbish vehicles employed by Enterprise are not fit for purpose.

Last week Ealing Today asked the Council to explain the problems:

Can you tell me how many complaints were logged regarding these problems?

On Monday and Tuesday (last week) we received a total of 1061 calls to report missed collections.

We have expanded the Customer Services team to answer calls and once again apologise for delays in getting through.

What exactly are the 'teething' problems?

It is a combination of factors, that include crews getting used to new rounds, using new vehicles and different methods of collection.

Are there issues with the vehicle sizes? If so what is being done about this?

Enterprise has reassured us that there is not a problem with vehicle size. As under the previous contract we will use smaller vehicle on roads that are particularly narrow.

Can you reassure residents that recycling is not going to landfill (as some suspect after seeing it all going into the same vehicle)?

All the materials will be recycled and will not be sent to landfill. ‘Mop-up’ teams are picking up missed items together before sending recycling to a materials recycling centre.

Council update:

Refuse and Recycling Collections

Usual collection day     Revised collection day

Monday 9 April           Tuesday 10 April

Tuesday 10 April         Wednesday 11 April

Wednesday 11 April       Thursday 12 April

Thursday 12 April        Friday 13 April

Friday 13 April          Saturday 14 April


Refuse and recycling should be left at the front of the property, not on the pavement, by 7am on the collection day.


Missed collections:

The council is apologising to anyone whose recycling or refuse collection has been missed this week.

The number of problems in the first week of the new refuse and recycling contract is unacceptable and our priority is to work with our new contractor, Enterprise, to get the service back to normal as quickly as possible. Extra crews have been working longer hours including Good Friday and Saturday to clear up any missed collections. 

"Apologies to anyone whose recycling or refuse collection has been missed. We have had some teething problems but we have got extra crews working to clear up any missed areas today, or at the latest tomorrow. Residents should leave their recycling or refuse out as usual for collection. It is worth noting that food waste will be collected separately from other recycling."

The contract with Enterprise covers waste, recycling, street cleaning, parks and grounds maintenance, and burial and cemetary service.

This latest rubbish controversy comes just after the Council introduced a subscription service for garden waste collection, which angered many locals. Ealing residents are now being charged £40 a year to have garden waste collected. 

Individual missed collections can be reported online via the main recycling, rubbish and waste page of the council’s website www.ealing.gov.uk/info/200489/recycling_rubbish_and_waste

or contact our customer services team on 020 8825 6000.”

Complaints about missed collections should be emailed to:StreetServicescomplaints@ealing.gov.uk

Have you been affected? Discuss on your local forum.

12 April 2012