A review into the controversial roll-out of new recycling bags across Lichfield and Burntwood is being launched.
Cllr Liz Little, Lichfield District Council’s new cabinet member responsible for the joint waste service, said the implementation and operation would be examined in detail over the coming weeks.
It comes after the local authority had previously admitted that some of the new bags distributed to homes for card and paper were a third smaller than they should have been.
Cllr Little said she was keen to understand how the scheme – which sees some households use purple bins instead of the blue bags – could be improved.
“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.”
Cllr Liz Little, Lichfield District Council
Cllr Little took on the post following the decision by the previous cabinet member responsible, Cllr Ashley Yeates, to stand down from the cabinet.
She said:
“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.”
Cllr Liz Little, Lichfield District Council
A Lichfield District Council spokesperson confirmed the review would begin this week and “conclude as soon as possible”.
