Verdant chief explains the teething troubles with waste

In a statement to the Observer this week, he said: "The unofficial action by Verdant's staff at Rother, and their subsequent meetings with both Rother Council and myself, reflect a universal truth '“ change is always challenging and uncomfortable.

"The wholesale change to Rother's waste and recycling service has been more challenging than usual, and everyone '“ residents, the council and Verdant staff alike '“ is right to be concerned.

"I am for one, which is why I and other Verdant managers spend a lot of time each week at Rother. We've been here before, though. Our considerable experience of implementing new waste and recycling schemes for a number of local authorities in England and Wales indicates that they all experience some problems in the early days.

"Tellingly though, those schemes have gone on to make a real difference to overall service delivery, with significant improvements in operational efficiency, cost savings and, most importantly, by taking recycling rates to new heights and reducing waste going to landfill.

"That is certainly the case with Rother where potential service roll-out problems were magnified by the size of the council area, the mix of properties, and unforeseen incidents like the fire that destroyed much of the new bin stock some weeks ago. Yet even with the problems, it appears that Rother's recycling rate has gone up fairly smartly over the past month.

"Clearly, the transition to the new service and new work practices has been challenging for the Rother staff that Verdant took on when it won the new contract. Under normal circumstances, the teething troubles associated with new ways of working take a little time to settle down.

In Rother's case, the scale of problems took everyone by surprise, including me.

"However, through continuing hard work and discussion, I am certain the problems are diminishing, as is the level of resident complaints. With the arrival of more new vehicles soon, I feel we will have the required resources to put things right and keep them right.

"There is still more to be done, not least because the unofficial staff action pushed us between 15% and 20% behind on this week's collections this week, and I'd ask residents to bear with us."

Later in the statement he said: "The new service at Rother is essential if the council is to meet, if not beat, its government-required recycling targets and avoid heavy financial penalties. I remain very optimistic that the service will produce the desired results, that it will satisfy residents, and that our staff will rapidly become comfortable with doing their job in a new way.

"We are fully committed to Rother and will work with determination to get it right. Verdant's service is nothing without its staff.

"We rely on their experience and local knowledge to provide what is needed and valued at the local level. By working together, we can all make it work."