Praise for Telford and Wrekin’s recycling and rubbish service
Staff and the reliability of Telford & Wrekin Council’s recycling and waste services have been praised by residents in the borough’s latest opinion survey carried out at the end of 2017.
Council contractor Veolia carries out a survey of residents every three years to find out how satisfied they are with the quality, ease and reliability of kerbside collections, Household Recycling Centres (HRCs) and bulk collections.
They also ask questions about the clarity of information provided, how happy residents are with the helpfulness of crews as well as asking for suggestions on ways of improving the service going forward.
From 7,500 surveys sent out to a selection of households across the borough in November and December, 1,507 residents responded – a healthy return. Results showed high satisfaction levels across the board, with all performance measures up when compared to the last survey.
Satisfaction with kerbside collections is now at 95% with 84% happy with the helpfulness of crews. Satisfaction with HRCs is at 96% with 89% praising helpfulness of staff. Overall, 68% or respondents found the annual collection calendar useful.
Comments in praise of the service included:
“The men are very good, they close the gates and put my bins back all emptied. Very good. I am disabled. Thank you.”
“It is a good service – reliable and regular, thank you.”
“An excellent service; my sister lives in Surrey and is envious of our recycling service, especially the green bin. They have to take items to a place approximately 20 miles away. Our bin men are excellent too and the men at Hortonwood deserve praise. Well done, thank you.”
Suggestions for improvements were to do more to ensure that streets are left clean after collections, offer food waste collections, take Tetra Paks and offer more support to residents who need it.
Councillor Shaun Davies, leader of Telford & Wrekin Council, said: “This is great feedback from residents for a job well done. We tend to take our recycling and rubbish collections for granted, but when you look at other parts of the country we clearly offer a very good service that is much appreciated by our residents.
“The survey helps us to identify how well our contractors are doing and what areas can be improved. I am particularly pleased to see how highly residents rate the helpfulness of staff, and my thanks go to all the crews and staff for their hard work and for the care they take.”
Steve Mitchell, Veolia’s Area Director said: “We’re delighted with the results of the survey. It’s a great testament to the work of our team in Telford and Wrekin. We look forward to continuing our work across the borough.”
Over the coming months, the Council will be working with its waste contractors to look at the results of the survey in more detail to see how further improvements can be made and undertaking further engagement with residents to get their views. Key findings of the survey are here www.telford.gov.uk/recyclingsurvey.
