Lichfield District Council orders review into "confusing" new recycling scheme
The "confusing" new Lichfield District Council household recycling system is being "reviewed" by the authority.
Residents complained about the "purple bin and blue bag" system which differed between rural and urban homes claiming it was leading to more rubbish on the streets.
Councillor Liz Little, from Lichfield District Council, announced "a review of the implementation and operation of the new scheme".
Councillor Little said: "We know that there have been some teething problems with the roll out of the service, but we also know that the same system has been successfully adopted in other councils across the UK.
"I want to understand why we experienced problems and what, if anything, we should, or can, do to make improvements. The rollout of the new service completed last Friday, and we can now access collection data to give us performance information to inform the review."
She added: "Since taking on this role a few weeks ago I have been monitoring the roll out closely and I can confirm that additional crews and rounds are now being deployed to ensure that future collections are not missed. I will continue to look at the customer experience whilst balancing that with the imperative that we separate our waste effectively.
"There have been complaints about the new process and the review will consider all of these and balance these against the options that we have available to us. The review starts this week and will conclude as soon as possible, and any findings will be shared, and any learnings taken on board. If any adjustments are appropriate then recommendations will be made."
Harlaston resident Sue Arnold was left confused by the new system.
She tweeted the council: "We live on the outskirts of Harlaston.. we waited 4 weeks for blue bins to be emptied and purple bins have been here for 6 weeks with no collection? What’s the rotation now, we are mightily confused!"
Posting a picture of the new and old system Peter Spooner complained: "Clearly this isn't going to work long term. What a mess and faff. Purple bin please."
And Andrew Shaw added: "My mum had her blue bag delivered on Friday, it was full by Sunday. Not sure what we will do from here. What is interesting is she is in a rural location, she has fields to the front, the back and sides. But has a small blue bag, other people have a purple bin, experts!"
