Walsall tips to stay closed for now during coronavirus lockdown
Rubbish tips in Walsall will remain closed and garden waste collections suspended as the Covid-19 crisis lockdown continues.
Council bosses said they are continuing to review the situation regarding the delivery of waste services in the borough during the coronavirus outbreak.
Last month, the authority opted to suspend its garden waste or brown bin collections to enable the service to concentrate on household rubbish and recycling.
Contractor Suez, which runs Walsall’s recycling centres in Aldridge and Bloxwich opted to close the facilities to protect staff. Making trips to the tip have also not been designated.
At present, the situation will remain this way for the foreseeable future but the authority said it was constantly being assessed.
A Walsall Council spokesman said: “Walsall’s local Household Waste and Recycling Centres are closed following the decision taken by the contractor to close both sites due to staffing concerns.
“Council household garden waste (brown bin) collections remain suspended until further notice as we continue to prioritise the collection of domestic waste and recycling bins from homes across the borough during the Covid-19 emergency.
“We will continue to review the situation and would like to reassure residents that garden waste collections will resume as soon as it is possible to do so.”
Earlier this week, it was revealed the number of fly-tipping incidents had dropped during the coronavirus lockdown period but the closure of the tips had been given as one excuse to justify the hundreds of crimes that had occurred.
But Walsall Council Mike Bird branded that excuse as “rubbish” and told people to wait for the recycling centres to reopen.
