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 borough from Chiswick to Hanwell are still awaiting collection.

Generally reports suggest that general waste has been collected as scheduled but collection of recycling boxes and bags has been patchy particularly on smaller residential roads.

Last Councillor Gary Malcom cycled around Southfield ward and posted h's assessment of the situation on his blog.

Hanwell 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.

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 though the Council have denied that this is the case.

Last week EalingToday.co.uk 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.

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 the 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