Householders warned of ‘significant disruption’

WEST FIFERS are being warned to prepare for significant disruption to waste services as a result of planned strike action next week.

Fife Council says it has received union notification of strikes involving waste and recycling centres staff and street-cleansing staff from 5am on Tuesday until 4.59am on September 14.

Similar industrial action is taking place across the country as part of a national pay dispute.

Household waste collections and street cleaning will be affected significantly with the majority of domestic collections across Fife being suspended over the strike period.

There will also be some impact on recycling centres – which may be subject to closure between September 7 and 10 – and collections from recycling points.

The council anticipates that normal collections will resume on Wednesday, September 14.

Litter bins and dog waste bins are also likely to be affected, as streetcleansing staff are also on strike. If litter bins are full, residents have been urged to take litter home whenever possible.

Fife schools will not be affected by these strikes.

Ken Gourlay, Fife Council’s executive director enterprise and environment, said: “This strike action is part of national action being carried out across Scotland. I fully appreciate that this will be an extremely challenging period for us all and I would like to thank our residents and visitors for their patience and understanding.

“If your bin is due to be collected on a day affected by strike action, please present it on the kerb as usual, but if it has not been emptied by 9pm take it back in and present it again on the next scheduled day for that bin.

“Decisions on which bins will be serviced will be dependent on the numbers of employees attending work, or striking.

“Please store products that can be recycled until the next scheduled collection day, where possible. Recycling points and centres are likely to be much busier than usual during the strike action so we advise that residents avoid using these.

“We will lift excess waste landfill/ recycling on the next scheduled uplift. Please do not leave non-recyclable waste at recycling points as this is flytipping.”

Commercial collections are unlikely to be affected in Fife at this time.