Two Fife Council bin lorries are now carrying the simple and strong national public message ‘Stay Home, Save Lives and Protect the NHS’.
To help combat the spread of coronavirus, new measures have been put in place to keep bin crews safe while working in challenging circumstances.
Physical distancing means two of the council’s bin crew are in a lorry, while one follows behind in a smaller vehicle when travelling to and from a bin route.
Hand sanitiser and PPE equipment are available for crews, following government advice for waste collection.
Ken Gourlay, head of assets, transportation and environment at Fife Council, said: “We’d like to thank Fifers for their support and their huge efforts in continuing to recycle right over this challenging period. The quality of the paper and card being collected is particularly good.
“We know that many people are struggling with all the changes that we are having to make to our lifestyles.
“There are a lot of people out there working through this really difficult time to deliver services that are important to us all.
“We know how much you value the waste collection service, so you may have noticed something different in the way our bin crews are operating. These new ways of working are in place to help our workforce to stay healthy and continue to deliver essential services.”
Mr Gourlay added that the council appreciates support from the public in helping protect themselves and bin crews by cleaning their hands before and after they put the bins out for collection, as well as keeping bin lids and handles clean.
Fife Council is also following government guidance that physical distancing can be reduced to one metre when it isn’t possible to implement the two-metre minimum rule in the workplace in order to maintain the safest working environment possible.
