Council outlines waste contingency plans for further strike action

The Council’s waste team has been working hard to minimise disruption to domestic and trade waste customers as a result of the next planned industrial action on 7-10 September. 

Here’s a detailed breakdown of what has been put in place if there’s no agreement on the national pay deal -

Amenity sites

We have the resources to keep the sites serviced but ultimately this is dependent upon usage.

We will ensure the sites are fully serviced prior to any planned industrial action and get to them as quickly as possible following any strikes.

However, it is anticipated that these will reach capacity and may have to close early – please keep an eye out on social media and listen in to Radio Orkney for updates.

Domestic collections

Wednesday 7 September - Route 11.

We will collect these in advance of schedule on Monday 5 September.  Shapinsay is scheduled for this day also, however unfortunately this will have to be suspended until the next scheduled collection date of Wednesday 14 Sept.

Thursday 8 September - Routes 12 and 14.

We will collect these in advance of schedule on Tuesday 6 September.  Hoy is scheduled for this day also however unfortunately this will have to be suspended until the next scheduled collection date of Thursday 15 Sept.

Friday 9 September - Routes 13 and 15

If these are not on the scheduled collection day due to industrial action, they will be collected on Monday 12 September.

After this we will revert to normal schedules.

Trade waste

Wednesday 7 September - Routes 3,8 and 5 

We can now do these routes in advance of schedule collection date on Monday 5 September.

Thursday 8 September - Routes 1,4 and 9

These will now be done in advance on Tuesday 6 September.  

Friday 9 September - Routes 2,3,5,6,7,8,10 and 11

We will have to collect on these routes later than scheduled. This will be done on Monday 12 September.

Cardboard collection 

Scheduled for Wednesday 7 September - Kirkwall and East Mainland. This will be suspended until the next schedule collection if industrial action takes place on this day.

Litter bins and street cleansing

Please, whenever possible, take your rubbish home with you as it is likely that the street litter bins will fill up quickly, especially in Kirkwall with five cruise liners due to visit during the industrial action period.

The action is in response to the ongoing national dispute in relation to a pay award for Local Government staff for the year 2022-23 which is negotiated between the Trade Unions and CoSLA as the umbrella body for Local Government.