Devon council cancels waste collections due to driver shortage

A council in Devon has become the second local authority forced to cancel certain waste collections due to the lorry driver shortage.

North Devon Council said garden waste collections were being halted until 19 September so that it could give priority to its other collections.

Councillor Netti Pearson, lead member for environment at the council, said: “The summer holidays are always extremely busy from a recycling point of view, but this has been compounded by the national driver shortage.

“Over the past few weeks, we have been trying to manage the situation with managers and supervisors stepping in to assist the crews, but the problems are still persisting and it is becoming increasingly difficult to catch up.”

Last month, East Hants District Council said glass collections were being postponed because its public service provider Norse South East did not have enough crews to collect waste.

A Norse spokeswoman said: “The industry across the UK is facing a challenging time in recruiting and retaining staff due to national staff shortages.

“As a national provider of waste services, Norse is at the forefront of this challenge and is working with our partners to seek ways to offer the right rates of pay and retention opportunities.”

Recent analysis of government figures by Driver Require suggested that the recruitment crisis was coming to an end because the total number of HGV drivers in the UK now exceeds pre-pandemic levels.