Kerbside glass recycling in Belfast hit by lack of staff

A shortage of staff has led to kerbside glass recycling collections being suspended across Belfast, a move which affects about 22,000 homes.

Services have been suspended since 27 July and Belfast City Council, which has apologised, has said it will not review the situation until the end of August.

It affects anyone who has a purple or black recycling box.

Alliance Party councillor Michael Long said he was unhappy with the situation.

"As someone who wants to see more kerbside glass recycling I am extremely disappointed that we can't even service the current poor provision," he told BBC News NI.

Kerbside glass recycling is not available to every home in Belfast and other recycling services are not affected.

Green Party councillor Anthony Flynn said he understood the staffing issue was down to a lack of drivers.

"Recycling needs to be sustainable, some people do not have a car to go to a local recycling bank and this creates a risk of people throwing their glass in other bins," he said.

"Glass that ends up in other bins and then goes to local waste dumps can lead to a heavy tax bill on the city."

He added that people needed to be able to trust that the services offered by the council would be provided.

Gregory McClelland, who lives in the Stranmillis area, has not had his recycling box collected due to the suspension.

"I am frustrated with the lack of communication from the council," he said.

"I've been having to go to bottle banks myself. It is frustrating that our tax rates aren't being use to deliver the services we pay for."

Belfast city Council said it understood the huge inconvenience caused.

"We apologise for the disruption and will keep residents informed via our website and social media challenges on any change," said the council in a statement.