We asked Dudley residents what they thought about the new recycling service. This is what they said

More than 130 people replied to our appeal for their views, and the all but a handful of responses were negative.

Most of the replies were about bins not being collected on the correct days, with one resident waiting three weeks for the collection of food waste.

One resident, a former bin man, said there had seen adverts for extra collectors, but received no reply when he applied for the job.

Another said she saw cardboard and general recycling being mixed together on a collection truck, despite residents being asked to separate them. Others complained about the length of time for delivering new bins.

Last month the council’s cabinet member in charge of refuse collection apologised for delays following complaints the service was ‘out of control’.

In April the council launched a weekly collection for food waste, as well as a simplified recycling service for glass, metal and plastic waste, in order to meet new government legislation.

But the service has been plagued with teething troubles from the start, and last month the council’s waste-collection chief apologised to the public for the problems. Further delays were caused by the closure of the council’s Lister Road depot as the result of a chemical leak.

Councillor Damian Corfield, cabinet member for neighbourhoods, admitted the service had not been up to scratch, but said he was taking action to put things right.

He said: “I know how frustrating missed and delayed collections have been, and I sincerely apologise to residents affected.

“The incident at Lister Road had a significant impact, leading to over 30,000 delayed collections. Recovering from disruption on that scale while maintaining daily services is complex, and I want to thank our crews for the hard work they’ve put in under difficult circumstances.”

Dudley Council’s Labour group said refuse collection in the borough was on average 30 per cent behind schedule, food waste was 47 per cent behind, dry recycling was 74 per cent behind and the paid-for green waste service was 84 per cent behind.

Councillor Corfield added: “Every week, we carry out around 300,000 collections across the borough, and it’s fantastic to see how positively residents have responded to the new service, particularly food waste collections.

“In May alone, we collected more than 1,000 tons of food waste and an additional 500 tons of dry recycling, exceeding government expectations.

“However, I recognise that this success has also placed extra pressure on our vehicles, crews and overall operations. Like many councils, we are facing challenges in recruiting qualified HGV drivers, which has meant relying on agency staff and overtime to keep services running.

“We’ve increased and redesigned dry recycling and food waste collection rounds to better meet demand, and we’re now applying the same approach to green waste collections. Additional vehicles are arriving, and we are actively recruiting permanent HGV drivers to strengthen the service for the long term.”

Dudley Council pointed out that a number of neighbouring councils had failed to implement the new system, months after they were required to do so by law. Last month Wolverhampton Council revealed it would be spending almost £900,000 on a leasing agreement for new vehicles with a view to launching its scheme in October, after its order to buy the new trucks had been delayed. Walsall Council has yet to set a date for when it will comply with the legislation.

Here’s a selection of what Express & Star readers said about the new collection service:

Sandra Harrison, from Netherton, said collection day was supposed to be on Friday, but had become increasingly erratic in recent weeks.

“Now it’s Sunday for general rubbish, maybe recycling, if not then it’s Monday. Food waste collected on Monday after being out all weekend, last week it was missed , even though my food bin was prominent at the end of my drive.”

She said she watched the blue bag for paper, and the blue bin for glass, metal and plastics, being emptied into the same section of the vehicle, and wondered why it was necessary for her to separate them.

Samantha Keeley, also from Netherton, said: “We are a Friday collection, and we haven’t had a week yet where everything that is scheduled to be collected on that Friday is collected on the day.

“This includes the green waste which we pay the additional fee for,” she said.

“Food should not be left out for days in this hot weather, there’s always an excuse. They did say it would be better when they get the new vehicles, but it isn’t.”

Chris Ward, from Kingswinford, said that this week, for the first time since the new service had been launched, all her bins were emptied on the correctly day.

“I don’t have a problem with doing more to recycle, but the implementation of the new system has not been well managed,” she said.

Elaine Solomon said since April it had been a lottery whether the bins would be collected on the correct day.

“Last Friday, the cardboard collection wagon swung into our road, a day late, and loads of boxes and papers flew out the back all over the road and footpath. You can probably guess, it did not stop.”

Joanne Tallis, of Withymoor village in Brierley Hill, described the situation as ‘farcical’.

“The streets become littered with bins, with recycling blowing out of bags and bins being blown over,” she said.

“Nobody knows when or if they will decide to turn up, you can’t log it on My Dudley (council website) for days, and some of the new councillors don’t care. Maybe we should pay our council tax late?

Andy Webb, of Meadowfields Close in Wordsley said he had put his food waste bin out on Tuesday morning, as directed, but was still sitting at the side of the road in full sun the following day.

“If the council can’t deliver the service on their specified day, then communicate with residents,” he said.

Ann Kendall from Lower Gornal said her food waste bin was smashed by the man who collected it, leaving her to wait 12 weeks for a replacement.

“I was told by the council to put my waste back into my black bin as you don’t get charged for doing it anyway.”

Angie Naylor said her food waste bin was only being collected fortnightly, rather than weekly as it was supposed to be.

“I rang them last week, they reckon they only have one food waste lorry. It’s unacceptable,” she said.

Rachel Emmings said: “Food waste is disgusting, it stinks in this heat.

“Get a grip with the programme, Dudley Council. Maybe I’ll stop paying my council tax and your letters will go in recycling.”

Trevor Wylde, who lives above a shop in Netherton, said he had received no recycling bins, and was dependent on his black bin that was supposed to be emptied every fortnight.

“Sometimes it’s two-and-a-half weeks before my bin is emptied,” he said. “I’ve been waiting months just for someone to come and look at the property to see if I can have another bin.”

Jane Lamine said the binmen collected all her neighbours’ bins, but missed hers.

“I have contacted them, and been told to leave outside for possible collection in five days,” she said.

“The smell is horrible, and we now have maggots and flies in the bin.”

Lisa Roberts, of Brierley Hill, said her recycling bins and blue bags for paper and cardboard had not been collected since the beginning of May.

“Emails sent and, surprise, surprise, no reply.”

Lucy Bentley, in Coseley, said her bins were rarely collected on the designated days.

“Having stinking food waste sitting out in this heat for over a week is not acceptable,” she said.

Mrs Bentley said she had ordered new bags for the cardboard as the current ones were held together by tape, but was still waiting after two months.

Kay Bateman said her food waste went three weeks without being emptied.

“Every week one of the bins is either not collected or a few days late,” she said.

“I’m disabled and require assistance with the bins, so not knowing what is going on is a pain.”

A Sedgley resident, who asked not to be named, said there had not been a single week where all the bins had been collected correctly since the new system was introduced.

“At least one is always left for a day or two,” she said.

“This week the bags our cardboard were in were placed just under the lid by the refuse collector collecting the cardboard to stop them blowing away.

“This resulted in the recycling later not being collected as there were bags in the bin.

“They weren't even in the bin they were just trapped under the corner and put there by their own refuse collectors.

“The flies accumulating around our recycling and rubbish bins in the heat are becoming a problem.

“If we open our windows they enter the house and it's stifling if we keep them shut.

“Not to mention the now nightly visits from foxes and badgers that set off our ring doorbell. We are a patient family and willing to wait out teething problems however this is just being handled poorly with no end in sight.

“Mixed with the hour round-journey every time we want to go to our ‘local’ tip and the grass in public spaces being left to grow to thigh high, I am starting to question what we are paying council tax for.”

Liam Walsh said bin collections had become very sporadic, with delays and missed collections happening far too often.

“What makes the situation particularly frustrating is that the council continues to advertise for refuse collection staff, while many people have said they applied but never received a response.

“I also applied for one of these roles myself and have previous experience working for other councils, but I did not hear anything back. It seems difficult to understand why collections are struggling when people with relevant experience are willing to work but are apparently not being contacted.

“I believe this is something worth investigating, as the recruitment process may be contributing to the ongoing problems residents are experiencing with their bin collections.”

Monique Bennett was more sympathetic, however.

“The bin collectors work hard in all weather, personally I appreciate the graft they do,” she said.

“Yes, my recycling and food waste wasn’t collected today, but it’s not the end of the world, the bin will stay out until it is collected.”