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Bin collections are being disrupted in parts of Greater Manchester as the coronavirus crisis piles pressure on local authorities.

Residents have been asked to stop putting out certain types of waste for the foreseeable future, while also taking steps to stop the virus spreading to council workers.

All househould waste recycling centres in Greater Manchester - except Wigan - are also closed until further notice.

With staff numbers dwindling, councils are facing difficult decisions about what waste they will be able to collect.

In some parts of the region, town halls are already prioritising general rubbish and food waste - the items that need to be most urgently disposed to keep the streets clean.

But every council has asked anyone with coronavirus or showing symptoms to put personal waste like tissues and disposable cleaning cloths in a tied bag.

This should then be kept separate from other rubbish for three days, after which they need to be placed into the usual outdoor household bin.

It is hoped this will protect council staff collecting bins and limit the spread of the disease across the city-region.

In Manchester, food and garden recycling bins will be collected every two weeks instead of every week, while other household waste can be disposed of as normal.

Grey bins will be collected by Trafford council as normal but the collection of green garden waste will be suspended.

The council says any food waste that would normally go into green bins must go into grey bins until further notice.

Meanwhile people in Oldham are being urged not to put garden waste out for collection in their green bins while refuse teams prioritise food waste collections.

Bins should be placed out for collection ‘as normal’, but if they are not emptied on their scheduled day they should be brought back in until the next scheduled collection day.

Oldham council is currently prioritising new general rubbish and green waste bins for delivery, and there is a delay on all other waste containers.

But due to staff shortages as a result of coronavirus, they are currently unable to process requests for new dry recycling bins.

Meanwhile in Bolton, glass, food and garden waste can still be recycled in the usual containers. But the council says it will not collect extra waste from the sides of bins.

In Bury, brown bin collections are cancelled until April 3 while bin crews focus on emptying grey, green and blue bins instead.

In Tameside, the council is still trying to carry out all collections across the borough. However leaders are preparing to prioritise disposing of perishable food waste and general rubbish over dry recycling if coronavirus hits their workforce numbers.

Already staff from the grounds maintenance department have been redeployed to support the bins team to keep collections on track.

No changes are currently being made to waste services in Salford, Rochdale, Stockport and Wigan. But bosses stress this could change in the days and weeks ahead.

Posted: 2020-03-24 18:42:08