Posted on: Wednesday 16 March 2022
This week, Torfaen Council has welcomed four new HGV drivers to the waste and recycling team.
Recruiting extra drivers and loaders is part of a multi-million pound investment in recycling vehicles and staff.
Last week the council took delivery of five replacement recycling vehicles, and a sixth is joining the fleet shortly.
In May, two new electric waste vehicles will be joining the council’s fleet, and mid 2023 19 new recycling vehicles will be hitting the streets.
Councillor Mandy Owen, Executive Member for the Environment, said: “By employing four new HGV drivers we can get more vehicles out collecting residents recycling and waste.
“These new members of the team will offer some stability to the service having been short staffed for a while due to difficulties recruiting HGV drivers and staff absence due to covid.
“I would like to apologise to residents once again for any inconvenience they have experienced over the recent months. We are making significant investments to improve the service, and have short, mid and long-term plans in place to improve the service and our performance.
“Our projected recycling rate for this year is 63 per cent so our investment will help us hit the Welsh Government’s 70 per cent recycling target by 2024/25.”
Recruitment for the waste and recycling team is ongoing with more loader and driver jobs being advertised this week. Visit the jobs page on the council website to find out more.
To find out more about recycling in Torfaen and to sign up for our special Reduce, Reuse, Recycle newsletters visit our website. You can also follow #CuttheCarbonTorfaen on social media.