THE number of missed bin reports made to Renfrewshire Council more than tripled following the change to its collection service. 

In November residents were given a new green bin for plastics, cans and glass, meaning the blue bin is reserved for paper, card and cardboard only. 

Grey general waste bins are now collected once every three weeks, instead of of what was previously once a fortnight. No changes were made to the brown food and garden waste bin. 

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And figures, revealed through a Freedom of Information request, have shown a spike in reports of non-uplifts were recorded after the rollout of the controversial service. 

The number of missed bin reports rocketed from 983 in November to 3,149 in December. 
However, since the initial bedding in period the reports have gradually decreased. 

In January 2,985 were made, which dropped to 2,202 in February and further to 1,898 in March. 

The SNP administration’s Councillor Cathy McEwan, convener of the Infrastructure, Land and Environment Policy Board, believes the data shows residents are now more at ease with the system. 

She said: “As with any major change to a service, there is an initial bedding in period and our new bin collection service was introduced to around 90,000 residents in November 2018.

“It was expected that there would be an increase in missed bin reports as residents get used to the change in their schedule, as well as presenting their additional recycling bin on the correct collection day.

“However, as the figures show, we are confident that these reports are decreasing, and residents are more at ease with the new system which has seen us post our highest ever recycling rate in the last quarter.

“We are providing as much support as we possibly can, including an online calendar showing the next four collections, an email reminder service which is sent out the day before collection and a downloadable phone calendar, and we thank residents for their patience as this was implemented throughout Renfrewshire.”

Since March reports of missed bins have continued to fall, with 1,686 recorded in April, 1,594 in May and 1,058 in June. 

Councillor John Hood, environment spokesman for the opposition Labour group, said the spike at the end of last year was of no surprise to him. 

“The numbers reflect the complaints that we have had as councillors,” he said. “If you speak to any other councillor, it’s the same. 

“The majority of complaints we are getting are non-uplift of bins.”

He also voiced concerns about a decision made in May to introduce a deadline of two working days to report a missed bin uplift. 

He said: “The change to two days for reporting a missed bin collection will be hard for people. 

“If you go away for a couple of days and your bin doesn’t get picked up, it could be there for another three weeks. 

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“I know there are people out there who abuse the system, who would chance it if they forget to put the bins out, but there are genuine people who will be impacted by that.”

Councillor McEwan responded by saying: “I can reassure residents that each complaint regarding a missed bin is looked at individually and, if there is good reason for the complaint being made outside of the two working days, then this will be taken into consideration.”

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