UPDATE 12 August 2024: The strikes planned for 14 - 22 August are suspended. As a result, there will be no disruption to your waste collection or our street cleaning services.

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Fife Council is asking residents to prepare for significant service disruption as a result of planned strike action across a number of councils in Scotland.

Fife Council has received union notification of strikes involving waste and recycling centres staff, and street cleansing staff from 5am on Wednesday 14 August until 4.59am on Thursday 22 August.

This will significantly impact household waste collections and street cleaning, with the majority of domestic bin collections across Fife being suspended over this period.

There will also be an impact on recycling centres, which may be subject to closure, and collections from recycling points.

The council anticipates that normal service will resume on Thursday 22 August.

Litter bins and dog waste bins are also likely to be affected, as street cleansing staff are also on strike. If litter bins are full, please take your litter home, whenever possible, to help prevent littering.

Services likely to be impacted:

• Resident wheeled bin collections
• Household waste recycling centres
• Litter and dog waste bins
• Street litter and fly-tipping clearances
• Bulky uplifts (existing bookings may not go ahead)

Carol Connolly, Fife Council’s Executive Director of Place, said: “This strike action is part of national action being carried out across Scotland. This will be an extremely challenging period for us all and I would like to thank our residents and visitors for their patience and understanding.

“If your bin is due to be collected on a day affected by strike action, please present it on the kerb as usual, but if it has not been emptied by 9pm take it back in and present it again on the next scheduled day for that bin. Decisions on which bins will be serviced will be dependent on the numbers of employees attending work, or striking.

“Please store products that can be recycled until the next scheduled collection day, where possible.  We will lift excess waste landfill and recycling on the next scheduled uplift. Please do not leave landfill waste at recycling points as this is fly-tipping.”

There will also be no guaranteed bulky uplift service for pre-booked collections over this period. Customers with a booking are advised to present the items for uplift on their collection date. However, if the items haven’t been uplifted by the next day, they should be removed from the pavement and re-book the uplift for another date.

Illegal fly-tipping should be reported as normal, but there is likely to be significant disruptions to the service. The council will try to prioritise any incidents where there is an immediate health and safety risk and potential danger to members of the public.

We will do our best to maintain commercial waste collections with the staffing resource that is available. Businesses should present bins on the kerb as usual, but if it is not emptied take it back in and present it again on the next scheduled day for that bin.

Negotiations are set to continue and we will continue to publish the latest information at www.fife.gov.uk/binstrike