Warning of further bin collection disruption in Borders

Residents in the Scottish Borders face a second week of disruption to their waste and recycling collection following an incident which resulted in the injury of a refuse worker.

The man was treated in hospital after being caught and dropped by a bin lorry's lifting mechanism on a rural route last month.

Since then the automatic lifting mechanisms on all Scottish Borders Council bin lorries have been suspended and are being operated manually, in the interests of staff safety.

SBC has said it will make no household food waste collections this week and asked residents to put food waste in their general bin.

The incident involving the lifting mechanism happened after the refuse worker became entangled in a bungee cor attached to a household wheelie bin.

The move to suspend the use of the automated machinery is slowing the speed at which all types of domestic waste can be collected.

It is causing disruption to operations and resulting in missed collections. No new bulky uplift bookings are being taken before July.

A council spokesperson confirmed domestic food waste collections were suspended between 9 June and 13 June.

"This is due to the knock-on effects of the service-wide disruption and the prioritisation of general waste and recycling collections," they said.

"As we are not sure how long this disruption will continue, if you do not have enough space in your food waste bin, we ask that you place any food waste into your general waste bin until further notice.

"We are very sorry for this inconvenience. If your general waste or recycling bin is not collected as scheduled, please leave it presented as we will make every effort to return for it.

"If we have not returned by the Sunday, please take your bin back in and present it again on your next scheduled collection day."

They also asked residents to remove bungee cords, ropes, chains and any other type of restraint from their wheelie bins on collection days.

"Remaining restraints will be removed by our staff if possible, but if they cannot be removed we will not be able to collect the bin," they added.

"Please note that we may not be able to guarantee the return of any restraints removed by our staff."

The council spokesperson added: "We ask for your continued patience and cooperation while we work hard to resolve this matter."

Story supplied by Local Democracy Reporting Service reporter Paul Kelly