Waste workers doing tidy job
THEY visit up to 1,600 homes a day and their workloads have skyrocketed in recent weeks with the lockdown contributing to hundreds of tonnes more waste and recycling being put out.
Refuse collectors are currently shifting more rubbish than during the Christmas period.
Adrian Wright, who is a recycling lorry driver at Kier in Bridgend, said: “With households not going to work, eating and drinking at home and buying stuff online, there’s a tremendous amount of extra work.
“It’s like Christmas every day with the amount of bags we’re picking up.
“We are recognised as key workers and if we weren’t doing our jobs, it would be a hell of a mess and could lead to rat infestations, it’s important to keep the place tidy.
“While some of the older residents have always come out to give us cans of Coke, we’re now getting children putting drawings and sweets on the wall, and running off.
“We’ve had Easter eggs, biscuits, pop – we appreciate what people are doing.”
Chris Pothecary has worked as a refuse collector for 20 years, driving the lorries which pick up the blue bags.
He said: “It’s worse than Christmas, so many people are at home, creating a lot more rubbish.
“With a lot more cars parked in streets now as well, it can be quite hard for us to get about.
“The whole of life is a bit different and it’s a challenging time for everyone. I am cautious and a bit paranoid – when getting home I’ll have a bath straight away and limit contact, I no longer kiss my little girl good night.”
Leeann Neagle, operations manager at Kier, said the company had undertaken several inductions for agency staff to ensure there is enough people to cover those self-isolating.
She said: “The health, safety and wellbeing of our teams are paramount, and during this time, we have put additional runs in to help support the crews and everyone is pulling together – I’m really proud of them.
“With many people now at home, they’re seeing the guys working, picking up our waste and keeping our home lives as pleasant as possible.
“Seeing messages up in people’s windows, thanking them for their contribution as key workers means a lot to them.
“Everyone’s got their own concerns with their families – for our teams to come in every day and display such positivity, dedication and commitment despite everything that’s going on, and their increased workloads is outstanding.”
Kier in Bridgend has 112 staff in total, including admin staff and its call centre.
The firm continues to follow government guidelines and has introduced a number of new measures, at its depot and when carrying out rounds.
The council’s own street cleansing team is also playing a vital role, emptying public bins, ensuring streets are kept clean and clearing away fly-tipping.
Team leader Robert Davies said: “We’ve seen a big increase in fly-tipping and people putting their household waste into public bins.
The biggest challenge in recent weeks has been changing the way we work especially when working as part of a team to meet the social distancing regulations.”
Council leader Huw David said: “We are very thankful for our refuse crews and street cleansing teams who are doing a phenomenal job at keeping our county borough clean and tidy.
“It’s great to see some of the messages from residents and their children thanking them for their hard work at this extremely challenging time.
“Their role is vital for the health of everyone – waste lying around is a health hazard.”