Bin strikes: Fifers warned of ‘significant’ impact in nine-day walkout

The Kingdom is one of 14 local authorities across Scotland facing industrial action by UNISON members in support of a pay claim .

Strike action begins at 5:00am on Wednesday (August 14), hitting bin collections, street cleaning and recycling centres - and will continue for nine days until Thursday 22nd.

The council has warned it will “significantly impact” household waste collections and street cleaning, with the majority of domestic bin collections suspended. Recycling centres might also be closed and litter bins and dog waste bins won’t be emptied. There will also be no guaranteed bulky uplift service for pre-booked collections during the strike.

The council has issued advice to residents on what to do with their rubbish as waste and recycling centres staff, and street cleansing staff take action.

Carol Connolly, executive director of place, said: “This will be an extremely challenging period for us all. If your bin is due to be collected on a day affected by strike action, please present it on the kerb as usual, but if it has not been emptied by 9:00pm take it back in and present it again on the next scheduled day for that bin. Decisions on which bins will be serviced will be dependent on the numbers of employees attending work, or striking.”Items that can be recycled should be stored until the next scheduled collection day - people are warned not to leave landfill waste at recycling points as this is fly-tipping. Customers with bulky uplift service bookings are advised to present the items for uplift on their collection date. If if the items aren’t picked up by the next day, they should be removed from the pavement and re-booked for another date.

Illegal fly-tipping should be reported as normal, but there is likely to be significant disruptions to the service.

Added Ms Connolly: “We will do our best to maintain commercial waste collections with the staffing resource that is available. Businesses should present bins on the kerb as usual, but if it is not emptied take it back in and present it again on the next scheduled day for that bin.