Abuse of recycling staff on the up

Queues leading to frayed tempers

Key workers at more than one Devon recycling centre have been verbally abused and threatened in the past few days.

It's getting worse, and it's because of limitations caused by covid restrictions. That, combined with visits to the tip increasing recently, partly due to the good weather, has led to queues and delays.

Devon County Council, which operates the centre say that leads in some cases to short tempers  and then "multiple incidents of aggressive or abusive behaviour towards staff.

The council is warning the public that sites could be closed temporarily if queues start causing a safety hazard on the public highway, and users may be asked to come back later.

The council says: "To ensure that sites are not too crowded and to allow social distancing, the number of offloading spaces in each site remains limited."

They continue: "Sites may restrict further vehicles from joining the queue towards the end of the day, to enable those already in the queue to be served before the site closes.

"To alleviate the congestion the public are asked to delay disposing of waste for a week or so, and if you only have small amount of waste or recyclables, then use your kerbside waste collection services.

Councillor Andrea Davis, the council's cabinet member for infrastructure, development and waste said: “I understand people are frustrated, but it doesn’t justify aggressive and abusive behaviour towards site staff who are just trying to do their jobs and keep everyone safe.

“If you must use our recycling facilities during lockdown, please be patient. Site staff are critical workers who have been working tirelessly throughout the pandemic so please, they deserve courtesy and respect. Be nice.”