Cllr Andrew Jefferies has thanked residents following the first week of changes to allow a refresh of household waste collection services.
Cllr Jefferies said: "I would like to thank residents for bearing with us as we have brought in some changes to enable the waste service to refresh and get collections back on track.
"Thanks to the changes all bins due for collection have been collected this week apart from brown bin food and garden waste in just 3 roads in West Thurrock and green/grey general waste bins in 6 roads in Grays and West Thurrock. Crews were unable to access these roads because they were blocked by parked vehicles. They will come and reattempt collection again on Monday to try and get these bins emptied.
"The decision to suspend blue recycling bin collections this week and brown bin food and garden waste collections from next week was not taken lightly but it does appear to be having the desired effect in helping to refresh services and allowing us the opportunity to catch-up on food and garden waste this week.
"We will continue to provide updates on progress through the council’s website and social media as the refresh progresses."
There will be some changes over the coming weeks as work takes place to build on this week's improvements:
- from Monday 3 October brown bin food and garden waste collections will be stopped temporarily for all households
- food and other waste that could make a bad smell can be put in with general refuse in the green/grey bin
- 2 additional clear bags of recycling side waste will be collected between Monday 3 October and Friday 7 October
More information about household waste collections can be found at: thurrock.gov.uk/bindays