Review of Swindon's recycling after 'serious issues' with new system

"Serious issues" have been found with a recycling system that left residents' rubbish uncollected for weeks.

People faced bin bags stacking up on the street, which Swindon Borough Council has now put down to "systemic issues" while planning the new system.

Councillor Chris Watts said this includes issues with the computer system, vehicle capacity and the design of the depot.

An independent review will be commissioned, he said.

The council said it has nearly caught up with the backlog, which was compounded at Christmas when there was a large influx of cardboard.

General waste collections are up to date but the council said it will be bringing in extra lorries, rental vehicles and agency teams, to clear the recycling by mid-February.

"Please bear with us, please still put your recycling out on the days allocated, we will come and pick it up, wither the next day or the day after," Mr Watts, cabinet member for the Environment and Transport, said.

He added that the problem had been in the planning stage of the new system, which started last November.

"We have uncovered some quite serious systemic issues with regards the new recycling system that has been rolled out," he said.

"What we've got to do is sort out the systemic issues, which refer to the computer system, the capacity that has been assumed with the vehicles and the problems that we have with the design of the depot.

"They're quite considerable re-engineering of what should have been sorted out in the project planning, so we're having to catch up from that work that wasn't done."

Mr Watts said there had not been "a proper dedicated project management team" for the new system.

"It was expected to be done by people who were doing the day to day, so there just weren't enough resources," he said.

"In trying to save that money in the project planning stage, it's going to cost us more to move it forward."

He said it is going to take "some time" to fully fix the problem and that there will be "additional costs to make sure this service works properly".

He added that the council will also be commissioning an independent review to "make sure it doesn't happen again".

Follow BBC West on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [email protected]