The collection of garden waste across most of Suffolk has been suspended in a bid to limit the spread of coronavirus by reducing the number of rounds crews have to complete.
East Suffolk Council and East Suffolk Norse announced today that they would temporarily no longer be collecting garden waste.
The last collection will take place tomorrow, Friday March 27.
The council are also suspending the food and glass collections currently on offer to parts of Lowestoft.
James Mallinder, cabinet member for the environment, said: “In these unprecedented times we must get the balance right between delivering essential services and safeguarding the health of our staff and communities.
“Fewer collections ensure that our crews will spend less time in close proximity to each other, which then reduces the risk of spreading the virus and creating further disruption to our teams.
“We appreciate that stopping this service will cause some inconvenience but we sincerely hope that everyone will understand that this is being done to safeguard wider public health.”
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When garden waste collections recommence, subscriptions will be ‘rolled forward’, which means that a new annual payment will only be required once each subscriber has received their full quota of 12 monthly collections.
Across East Anglia, other local authorities have made similar decisions to cut out unnecessary rounds to ensure crews limit their contact with the general public to prevent the spread of infection of COVID-19.
Babergh, Mid Suffolk District Council and Ipswich Borough Council announced the decision earlier this week, while West Suffolk Council are currently continuing the service, subject to change.
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Recycling centres across Suffolk closed to the public on Tuesday March 24 and now residents are being urged to use their garden and food waste as compost, instead of throwing it out with their black bin bag collections.
Mr Mallinder added: “It is important that people are only purchasing the food items they need to ensure that shops are able to replenish their stocks in good time.
“However, this is also important to help minimise waste and the build-up of rubbish, should there be further impacts on our collection service.”
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