Demand for more answers as bin collections missed in 120 Derby streets - with Christmas and weather to blame
Concerns have been raised with Derby City Council’s refuse department after more than 120 streets were missed for bin collections during the first full week of 2025 - partly because there was too much rubbish after Christmas.
The Labour-led council has explained that “heavier rounds following Christmas”, vehicle breakdowns and the cold weather were the reasons why dozens of streets were missed for blue and black bins.
But councillors in Derby have not been impressed with the reasons given. It comes after a message from the city council’s refuse team to councillors in Chaddesden was shared on social media.
It said: “Some residents have asked why their bins were not collected as scheduled. There have been some outstanding streets this week where bins have not been collected on the scheduled collection day.
“This is due to heavier rounds following Christmas, and a number of vehicle breakdowns the service has had across the last couple of days. The weather this week has also impacted the speed which the crews are getting around their rounds. “
The message added additional crews would be running early this week to catch up on any outstanding work.
But Chaddesden East councillors Jerry Pearce and John Wright are demanding more answers.
The councillors said in a statement: “We are mostly concerned that vehicles weren’t 100 per cent ready for the bin collections this week as they knew that it would be a larger amount being collected. We will be taking this up with the department.”
Missed bin collections were a frequent problem throughout 2024 for Derby residents. In August last year it was reported that almost 230 city streets were missed for collections – nearly double the number of last week.
A similar incident in April of last year saw around 200 missed streets, which were blamed on “unforeseen staffing issues”. That was mainly for brown bin collections.
Derby City Council leader Nadine Peatfield was asked about the bin collection situation in December and said she understood residents’ frustration. She said: “There were specific challenges this year (2024) over bin collections which related to a lot to agency workers. We use agency workers for flexibility because of higher demands in the summer – but a combination of our own workers being on holiday and agency workers not being available – there were certain challenges.
“We have worked really hard to resolve that issue but sometimes ultimately it is due to parked cars on streets. There is an element of responsibility of people who park on narrow streets and we can’t get to them. But I do understand the frustration.”