Summary: Ms X complained the Council has failed to provide a replacement pod for her recycled paper and cardboard despite first requesting this in June 2023. Ms X also complained the Council has failed to provide a replacement household waste bin. We found the delays in providing a replacement pod and household waste bin are fault. This fault has caused Ms X frustration and inconvenience. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council has failed to provide a replacement pod for her recycled paper and cardboard despite first requesting this in June 2023.
2. Ms X also complained the Council has failed to provide a replacement household waste bin. Ms X says she told the Council in the summer of 2024 that her household waste bin had gone missing and asked for replacement but has still to receive it.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered evidence provided by Ms X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. Ms X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Refuse and recycling collections

7. Councils have a duty under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to arrange for the collection of household waste and recycling from properties in its area. The collections do not have to be weekly and councils can decide the type of bins or boxes people must use.
8. In addition to a household waste bin, the Council provides most households with a recycling bin, which has a removable pod insert. Plastic, metal and glass goes in the main part of the bin. The pod is for cardboard and paper.
9. In January 2025 collection crews began industrial action. This began with specific strike days each week when waste would not be collected. Then from 11 March 2025 it became an all-out strike. The Council suspended recycling collections when industrial action began and then declared a major incident on 31 March 2025 to address the impact of the industrial action.

What happened here

10. Ms X says her recycling pod went missing in the summer of 2023 and she has requested a replacement three times but has still not received one. She made a formal complaint to the Council in July 2024
11. The Council responded within a few days and advised the pod requested in June 2023 was delivered in December 2023 and the second pod requested in December 2023 was delivered in February 2024. Ms X had made a third request on 23 July 2024 and the Council would deliver a pod as soon as it could. The Council said there was a delay in delivering the pods as they were working on backlog caused by manufacturing issues. It apologised for any inconvenience.
12. Ms X disputed the pods had been delivered and asserted they should not in any event take months to be delivered. She note the backlog was a recent issue and she had been waiting over a year since her initial request. Ms X also told the Council her household waste bin was now missing and questioned why she should have to pay for a replacement
13. The Council suggested the replacement pods may have been taken by someone else and again apologised for the delay. It confirmed Ms X’s request for a pod was in the queue and would be dealt with in due course. Ms X was unhappy the Council was not taking responsibility for ensuring orders were properly delivered. She also asked what would happen about her missing bin.
14. The Council confirmed it had asked the depot to collect sacks of waste until the new bin arrived. It provided a link to its website for Ms X to order a replacement bin.
15. Ms X asked for confirmation of whether a bin had been ordered and for more detail on this process. The Council referred Ms X to the link it had previously provided and explained there was a charge for replacement bins. It also said it was inundated with orders and was working on requests from January 2024. Ms X’s request would be put in the queue and dealt with in due course.
16. On 6 August 2024 Ms X complained she had left sacks of waste out for collection as the Council had advised, but they crew did not collect them. She was unhappy she would now have to deal with rodents and complaints from her neighbours about the uncollected waste. Ms X asked the Council to provide her with a replacement bin.
17. Ms X then chased the Council for a response on 22 August 2024 and asked for her complaint to be escalated. She also questioned whether she had to pay for the bin in advance when there was no guarantee it would be delivered. The Council does not appear to have responded at his stage.
18. Ms X also contacted her local councillor for assistance. In late October 2024 Ms X asked us to investigate her concerns. We referred the complaint back to the Council to complete stage 2 of its complaint process.
19. In late November 2024 the Council contacted Ms X to confirm whether she had received a new paper recycling bin, which would replace the pod system. The Council’s records showed it had delivered this bin on 7 October 2024. Ms X confirmed she had not received a bin. She reiterated that her biggest concern was still a replacement household waste bin. She noted she had repeatedly asked for an assurance/ guarantee a bin would be delivered before placing the order. The Council had not responded which had led to a further delay.
20. The Council responded at stage 2 of the complaints procedure on 2 December 2024. It confirmed it had chased a replacement pod and ordered Ms X a replacement bin. The Council told Ms X it was replacing pods with green lidded bins for paper and card and that these would be rolled out to all properties next year.
21. The Council said it was working on requests from April 2024 and that Ms X’s request for a replacement bin was in the queue. It said it was making deliveries in date order of requests to ensure fairness to all households waiting for bins. It again apologised for any inconvenience caused.
22. Ms X remains dissatisfied and has asked the Ombudsman to investigate her concerns.
23. In response to my enquiries the Council says Ms X did not request a replacement household waste bin via the Council’s website. Instead, she referred to her missing bin in the body of her complaint. It says that when Ms X’s complaint progressed to stage 2 and officer noticed Ms X had not completed the form for a replacement bin. The officer then raised the order on Ms X’s behalf.
24. The Council says the delay in providing a replacement bin was due to manufacturing issues early last year at the factory that makes the bins and pods. It says this caused significant backlogs which got worse when the Council announced its plan to move to fortnightly collections.
25. The Council says it was unable to change manufacturers as it is the only company that makes the pods and bins that can fit on its collection vehicles. The manufacturing issues were resolved last year but there are issues clearing the backlog due to the number of orders across the city. Due to the backlog and the current industrial action the Council has stopped taking requests for additional or replacement bins.
26. In addition, as the Council is implementing a new system later this year, it is no longer accepting requests for replacement pods. It says pods are being replaced by a second recycling bin. The Council has not delivered any new pods since September 2024 in preparation for a new bin roll out. It has closed any new or outstanding requests for pods since September 2024.

Analysis

27. As the Council requires residents to recycle waste in a particular way it should ensure they have the correct bins, boxes, and pods. There were delays in providing Ms X with a replacement pod and household waste bin. The Council says it delivered two replacement pods, but it is clear Ms X did not receive these. If she had received the pods she would not have needed to repeatedly request replacements or make a complaint.
28. The Council says requests are only closed by stores department officers once they have received confirmation from the driver that they have delivered the pod to the address. However it is unclear how/ where the Council delivers replacement pods, and it does not appear to notify the resident of the delivery.
29. It is also curious that the Council’s records suggest it had delivered a replacement bin and a pod in October 2024, when it had not. The Council stopped providing replacement pods in September 2024 and has not yet rolled out the new recycling bins. Given these inconsistencies I am not persuaded the Council’s records are accurate or reliable.
30. The significant delay in providing Ms X with a replacement pod amounts to fault. It has meant that Ms X has been unable to effectively recycling paper or cardboard for an unnecessarily extended period.
31. The delay in providing a replacement household waste bin is also fault. It is almost a year since Ms X told the Council her household waste bin was missing, and she has yet to receive a replacement. This has caused Ms X inconvenience and frustration.
32. While we recognise the delays were due, at least in part. to manufacturing issues outside of the Council’s control we still consider this to be a service failure. A finding of service failure does not imply blame, intent or bad faith on the part of the Council, but it still amounts to fault.

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Action

33. The Council has agreed to apologise to Ms X and pay her £100 in recognition of the frustration and difficulties the delay in providing a replacement pod and household waste bin has caused. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings.
34. The Council should take this action within eight weeks of the final decision on this complaint and provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

35. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed actions to remedy injustice.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman