There have been delays to waste collections over the past couple of weeks but everything should soon be 'back on track'.
This is according to the Leader of Milton Keynes Council.
The past month has seen disturbances to waste collection across the city, partly due to staff shortages caused by the pandemic and unsafe road conditions.
Two refuse workers died after testing positive for the virus, and an outbreak amongst staff meant that last month over 40% of the workforce was either off sick or having to self-isolate.
Milton Keynes Council has suspended green bin collections to ensure essential collections can continue.
But last week it was announced that four housing estates would have to go a week without any rubbish collection.
This was criticised heavily by the opposing party, the Conservative Group, which called on the Labour-run Council to "get a grip of waste services".
But the Cllr Pete Marland, the Council's Leader, yesterday apologised to residents who have problems with waste collection.
He said: "I'd like to apologise to all local residents who have had some issues with their waste collection over the past week or so. Our waste partner Serco has had a rise in the number of staff with the virus, who are self-isolating or waiting for test results. Collections were also delayed due to the snow and icy weather. Around 10% of residents have been affected."
But on a more positive note, Cllr Marland says that collections will be back to normal by the end of the week.
He continued: "I took the decision to reset collections to their normal day at the beginning of this week, rather than cause more disruption to even more residents and potentially not get back to normal for some time. I know it's not ideal but it will allow waste collections to fully be back on track by the end of this week as more Serco staff return.
"I would like to thank them, and all of our key workers, for continuing to deliver vital services since the start of the pandemic."
In other news, Milton Keynes Council is currently facing an unprecedented demand for recycling sacks. There is currently a backlog of thousands of requests per week.
