Croydon (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Ongoing missed bin collections in Croydon have led to overflowing rubbish on streets, drawing public complaints over hygiene and a persistent foul odour.
As reported by South London Press, the disturbance came after Veolia Garbage Management and Croydon Council signed a new eight-year garbage contract.
Veolia, the only bidder, had previously held the council’s trash contract and started the contract on April 1st, 2025. Veolia’s recent performance has been criticized, and some have questioned the council’s decision to continue using the same contractor despite assurances of better service.
Labour’s Croydon Mayoral candidate Rowenna Davis told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS):
“It is just so shockingly disappointing because there are millions and millions of pounds of public money going to this company.”
Croydon East MP Natasha Irons and Councillor Davis reported receiving a tonne of complaints from locals.
According to a Shirley homeowner who lives above a store, her block experienced a seven-week bin pickup lapse.
“The bins of our neighbours who live above the shops were overflowing,” she said. “Foxes got to them and there was just food waste, sanitary towels and nappies all over the road which we ended up having to clear up.”
Despite submitting multiple missed bin reports, she said nothing was done.
“They kept saying we were aware of this problem, we will get it sorted,”
she said.
She added they were just told the same thing, it will get done by the end of the week, but nothing happened.
When the waste was finally cleared, she claims Veolia left 14 wheelie bins, some commercial, blocking her driveway.
“My housemate and I had to go round and try to find out who they belonged to, because there are not enough flats for 14 bins.”
The new contract sought to increase street cleaning, decrease the use of pesticides, implement nighttime clean-ups, and boost collections for apartments above stores.
However, citizens and council members claim that the rollout has been beset by problems, especially for those who are responsible for handling big amounts of residential trash or paying for garden waste collection.
Cllr. Davis also brought attention to an elderly resident who pays for yard trash services but hasn’t had her bin picked up in five weeks.
She said that the streets haven’t changed, the company hasn’t changed, and yet the service has declined, so this must just be incredibly poorly managed.
She added that this is really important, when your council tax has gone up by 27% and somehow your bin services have got worse, a lot of people find it a kick in the teeth.
Ms. Irons listed health and environmental issues, such as a rise in mice and maggots and a “persistent smell of decay,” in a letter to Mayor Jason Perry.
She also cautioned that residents who filed numerous unresolved reports may feel disregarded, which could have a negative impact on their mental health.
A Croydon Council spokesperson said:
“We are aware that some residents have experienced missed collections… and we are sorry for any inconvenience caused.”
They added:
“As part of launching the new service, we have experienced some teething issues, which we are working through. It remains a top priority for us and our waste contractor, Veolia, to make sure our residents’ bins are emptied on time and services are improved as part of the new contract.”
According to the council, 99.5% of April’s collections were finished on schedule, and they anticipate that services will return to normal in May.
But following a heated online debate in the letter’s comments section, Ms. Irons refuted the notion that the problems were trivial.
“I’m sorry, but I have to respectfully disagree with you here,”
she told a resident during a discussion on the Nextdoor social media site.
“My office has seen a significant increase in complaints from residents in my constituency, and this is a real issue they very much care about.”
Some locations may not be impacted, she continued, although rubbish has been left outside homes in other regions for more than a month. “It should be addressed if someone takes the time to report it.”
Another hotspot is fly-tipping. Croydon has been called the “fly-tipping capital of England” in the past, and Veolia’s handling of locals’ fly-tip complaints has been regularly criticized by the community organization Litter Free Norbury (LFR).
Tony Hooker, an LFR member who keeps an eye on Veolia’s performance, claimed that after early warnings, contractors frequently do not react.
He explained to the LDRS in February that he occasionally had to notify fly-tip hotspots “four or five times” before anything was done about them. LFR members have occasionally picked up waste themselves because they are frustrated by delays.
“We are struggling to see what improvements have been made in the new waste contract,”
Mr Hooker said.
He added that the levels of service in respect of fly-tipping response, street cleaning and emptying street litter bins, through to waste collections appear, from what we have seen and what residents have informed us, to be the same or significantly worse performance than prior to 1st April.
In a statement, Veolia said that Veolia is proud to work in partnership with Croydon Council to deliver essential recycling and waste collection and street cleansing services.
According to the company, it cleared an average of 190 fly-tips every day and finished over 1.25 million collections in April, with 99.5% of them on time.
They claimed that 180 tonnes of fly-tipped rubbish were recovered last month by a nighttime service that was introduced under the new contract.
“As part of the new contract, we re-routed all kerbside collections in order to improve efficiency,”
the spokesperson added.
“We are grateful for residents’ support through their continued reporting of collection and fly-tip issues via Croydon Council’s website and for their patience during this period of adjustment.”
What are the consequences of the persistent smell of decay for public health?
Chronic exposure to unpleasant smells can cause mood fluctuations, increased stress, anxiety, melancholy, sleeplessness, and irritability. People may avoid going outside or bringing others into their houses as a result of the offensive odor, which can lower quality of life and raise feelings of social isolation.
Odors are frequently interpreted by locals as a possible health hazard, raising stress and anxiety levels even when they do not immediately imply harmful exposure.
Airborne contaminants that aggravate respiratory disorders including bronchitis, asthma, and other chronic respiratory ailments can be linked to the odors of decomposing organic waste.
Strong, lingering smells can make it difficult for residents to eat comfortably or stay outside by producing physical symptoms like headaches, nausea, and dizziness.