The temporary closure of Slyfield community waste recycling centre and waste transfer site in June might have gone un-noticed by many.
If so, it’s due in no small part to the successful and detailed collaboration between Guildford and Waverley Borough Councils and their bin contractors. Their meticulous planning and effective communication to people in the borough ensured little or no impact on residents, during what was a major change in waste collection arrangements.
Guildford and Waverley have both been named as two of the UK’s top performers in waste collection. Both councils operate alternate weekly collections for bins, weekly food waste and fortnightly garden waste, serving a total of 118,000 properties and managing over 13 million collections across both boroughs.
The Slyfield community recycling centre and waste transfer station was closed by Surrey County Council (SCC) from 15 to 30 June for essential improvement works. Normally, there is a five week notice for major service changes and months of planning go into the process, but the teams had to work with far less.
All the waste that would have gone to Slyfield had to be diverted to other sites all over Surrey. This included Epsom, Chertsey, Leatherhead, Shepperton and Ash Vale, meaning longer journey times with some sites only able to accept certain materials, which provided additional challenges. For example, food waste, which is usually a 10-minute trip to Slyfield, had to travel an hour each way to Shepperton. Street cleaning, parks and kerbside waste were also affected as they are also taken to Slyfield.
New routes across the two boroughs had to be mapped out for the bin crews and new crew members trained, sometimes with incredible coordination, whilst they were waiting to access sites.
Waverley Borough Council’s Portfolio Holder for Environment and Sustainability, Steve Wiliams, said:
“Our waste teams worked tirelessly to organise the logistics within a short timeframe, not only dealing with the vital communication with residents but also ensuring legislative compliance and operator licences. Crews had to undergo additional training and new procedures were implemented, all of which takes a lot of coordination.
“The partnership working between the councils, as well as with the bin contractors, was crucial to ensure a smooth operation. Waverley’s bin contractor Biffa adjusted collection schedules to avoid overlap with Guildford’s routes, and customer services and communications teams collaborated so effectively throughout the duration that many residents hardly noticed the disruption and continued to receive efficient waste collection services despite the challenges.”
Lead Councillor for Environment and Climate Change at Guildford Borough Council, Cllr George Potter, added:
"I'm immensely proud of how this temporary closure was dealt with by all of the council's staff. Our teams worked closely with all parties involved to ensure little, if any, impact was felt by our businesses and residents. The crews were amazingly flexible, and everyone worked incredibly hard to ensure all waste was properly collected and disposed of or recycled, in line with legal regulations, despite significantly increased journey times to the waste disposal facilities.
"We are committed to delivering first class public service to the communities we serve. This was an excellent example of collaborative working with Waverley Borough Council, Surrey County Council, Suez and additional contractors. From effective communication to operational excellence, our teams supported one another to ensure we still provided an excellent service despite the major challenges we faced."