Southend waste service launches with wheelie bin collections

Southend Council launched its new waste collection service in partnership with Suez today, transitioning from sacks to wheelie bins after an eight week rollout of 180,000 bins to homes, with crews on course to deliver 53,000 collections on day one.

With the city divided into four main areas, today saw collections begin in the area west of the city, including Eastwood and Leigh, with Wednesday to be west-central, Thursday to be east-central, and Friday to be east of the city out to Shoebury.

Collections - The wheelie bin waste collections launched on Tuesday in the west of Southend through Eastwood and Leigh. (Image: Cllr Paul Collins)

Lydia Hyde, councillor for waste, said: "I've been joining the SUEZ crews to see the first day of the bin collection rollout. I'm pleased to say it's been going really, really well.

"I've been having lots of positive conversations with residents here in my own ward of St. Laurence about the new bin scheme. Lots of people have all the right bins out, which is fantastic to see."

Working on an alternating fortnightly cycle, one week will see collection of the black refuse bin, and pink recycling bin, while the alternate week will see collection of the blue paper/cardboard bin - with food waste bins, and green garden waste bins to be collected on both weeks.

Support - Daniel Cowan, Leader of Southend Council, has been on the ground with SUEZ crews on Tuesday. (Image: Southend Council)

Daniel Cowan, Labour leader of Southend Council, was also out and about with Suez crews on Tuesday, and said: "Today is the first collection day, and so far so good, it's going really well.

"I want to thank everyone who's been so engaged so far, supporting us in putting the right bins out and just being patient with the staff where there are any teething issues, and they're doing their best."

“Change can bring some teething issues, and we’ve seen a very small number of missed collections to our call centre or affected households with incorrect data on the app.

"So far from what I've seen, pretty much 99 per cent of everything has been done really, really well, and wherever there are small issues, we're on hand with SUEZ staff to put it right as quickly as possible, and ensure that long term, everything works for the best."

Councillors have encouraged residents to join the 22,000 others who have download the Southend waste app, where they can check collection days, receive notification reminders and, if needed, report any missed collections.

Alternatively, every household with wheelie bins should've also received a paper calendar with details of collection dates all the way through until July 2026.