Almost 25,000 bin collections missed in Dundee and Angus

Angus and Dundee councils have been told to clean up their acts over missed bin collections.

Almost 25,000 bins were left uncollected in the streets over the past three years, but the overall figure could be even higher.

In Angus there were 4,134 missed bin collections in 201617, 2,873 in 2017-18 and 2,989 last year.

In Dundee there were 4,291 last year which was down from 8,323 in 2018.

The council could only give figures from October to December in 2017, which was 1,035.

The issue was blamed on the transfer to a new customer services platform.

North East Liberal Democrat MSP Mike Rumbles said: “Although only a small proportion of bin collections are missed, it is hugely inconvenient for the families and individuals that have to wait up to a month for their waste to be collected.”

Both councils defended the rates and said the missed uplifts were a small percentage of the 12 million collections in Dundee and Angus every year.

Dundee neighbourhood services convener Anne Rendall said: “In Dundee we carry out nearly six million bin collections every year and a level of 8,000 reports of missed uplifts means that 99.9% of the service goes according to schedule.”

An Angus Council spokeswoman said, “Occasionally, a bin may not be emptied for one of many reasons.

“In circumstances where the customer has not presented the bin for collection or has presented a contaminated bin, we will return when practical and resources can allow.”