Missed bin collections during Covid-19

Published: 15 April 2020

Now more than ever it’s important that everyone puts their bins out on time and at the correct place for collection.

This is a challenging time for our crews, and we appreciate every effort you make to reduce the strain on their workloads.

It’s easy to lose track of time and days at the moment, but please bear in mind that the Council’s policy of not returning for bins that haven’t been placed out by 6am at the latest and at the designated collection point still applies during this period of lockdown. The same goes for bins that contain things they shouldn’t.

We have never been able to guarantee a collection time beyond saying it will be after 6am. This is why we always say to put your bin out after 6pm on the night before collection, but before 6am on the day itself.

Different drivers take different routes, and sometimes road access problems means the crew having to make collections later or earlier in the day.

If your crew usually comes at around 11am, but today they turned up at 7am and your bin wasn’t out, they won’t be able to go back for it. They log each ‘not out’ bin on their in-cab computer when they are outside the property, which prevents a request being raised for their return.

Each vehicle carries a computer on which the crew can record live information, which feeds directly and immediately into our website. The information you receive via the missed bin form on the website is the information the crew logged when they were outside your property.

If you have missed your bin collection, please store the waste and put it out on your next collection day for that colour bin. Make sure to report it via exeter.gov.uk/missedbin, which will alert the crew via their computer to collect the waste when they arrive outside your property on the next collection day.

However, if you think your bin has been overlooked by accident, please do report it by midnight of the following day at the latest at exeter.gov.uk/missedbin. If the crew has not reported a reason for missing your bin, this will generate a service request for them to return within the next two days.

In this situation, leave your bin out. If you bring your bin back in and then report it as missed, and our system raises a request for the crew’s return, they will not collect the bin unless it is back at its collection point by the time they return – and they will not make another return visit.

Remember, all information is live, so they could return within minutes of you reporting the bin as missed.

It’s also imperative that people park as considerately as possible to allow our crews access to roads. With everyone spending so much time at home, there are more cars parked on the streets, which is causing some difficulty for our vehicles.

If their vehicle can’t gain access to your road, the crew will try again on two occasions on subsequent days. Therefore, if your street has not received a bin collection, leave your bin out and check exeter.gov.uk/missedbin for details of the issue.

If the crew is unable to access your road on subsequent attempts, please take your bin back in, store the waste and put it out on your next collection day for that colour bin.

Reducing the opportunity for access difficulties by not parking on corners and by parking as close to the kerb as possible will be a great help.

Thank you for continuing to support our crews through this challenging period.

Key points to remember:

• Bins out after 6pm the night before, but before 6am on the day.
• Report missed collections via exeter.gov.uk/missedbin (by midnight the following day, if you believe your bin was out at the correct time and at the correct place).
• If your bin was not out when the crew arrived, they will not return for it. Store the waste and put it out again next time, after reporting it via exeter.gov.uk/missedbin.
• Leave your bin out until you have checked what the situation is. Bring it back in if you see we are not able to return for it.
• If your road has been missed, leave your bins out and check exeter.gov.uk/missedbin for details.
• Park as considerately as possible to allow access for our vehicles. They can only attempt entry to a road three times before the waste will need to be stored for collection next time.