In the interests of crew safety and to ensure that household waste and recycling collections are prioritised, East Suffolk Council and East Suffolk Norse have taken the decision to temporarily suspend the collection of garden waste, including annual renewals and new subscriptions.

The final round of garden waste collections will take place tomorrow, Friday 27 March. The Council is also temporarily suspending its food waste and glass collection services which are ordinarily provided in parts of Lowestoft. Residents who have a separate food collection are advised to place this waste in the black bin for the time being.

These changes will ensure that all vehicles and crews are being used to collect household waste and recycling during the current restrictions and they will continue to be emptied on established collection days.

When garden waste collections recommence, subscriptions will be ‘rolled forward’, which means that a new annual payment will only be required once each subscriber has received their full quota of 12 monthly collections.

Cllr James Mallinder Cabinet Member for the Environment said: “In these unprecedented times we must get the balance right between delivering essential services and safeguarding the health of our staff and communities. Fewer collections ensure that our crews will spend less time in close proximity to each other, which then reduces the risk of spreading the virus and creating further disruption to our teams.

“We appreciate that stopping this service will cause some inconvenience but we sincerely hope that everyone will understand that this is being done to safeguard wider public health.”

Cllr Mallinder also confirmed that there are no current plans to stop the collection of recyclables – however the Council will continue to monitor the situation. Additionally, he hopes that people will give some thought to what they purchase and the build-up of household waste.

He said: “It is important that people are only purchasing the food items they need to ensure that shops are able to replenish their stocks in good time. However, this is also important to help minimise waste and the build-up of rubbish, should there be further impacts on our collection service. Garden and food waste should also be composted wherever possible.”