A wave of missed bin collections over the past month left streets in a south London borough overflowing with rubbish and the “persistent smell of decay”.
The disruption in Croydon followed the launch of a new eight-year waste contract between the council and Veolia Waste Management.
Veolia, which began the contract on April 1 2025, was the sole bidder and had previously held the council’s waste contract. Despite promises of improved service, Veolia’s recent performance has drawn criticism, with some questioning the council’s decision to retain the same provider.
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.”
Councillor Davis and Croydon East MP Natasha Irons said they had been inundated with complaints from residents. One Shirley resident, who lives above a shop, told the LDRS her block went without bin collections for seven weeks.
“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. “We were just told the same thing, it will get done by the end of the week, but nothing happened.”
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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 aimed to improve collections for flats above shops, introduce night-time clean-ups, reduce pesticide use, and enhance street cleaning. But councillors and residents say the rollout has been plagued by failures, particularly for those paying for garden waste collection or dealing with large volumes of household rubbish.
In another case, Cllr Davis highlighted an elderly resident paying for garden waste services who hasn’t had her bin collected in five weeks.
She said: “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: “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.”
In a letter to Mayor Jason Perry, Ms Irons outlined health and environmental concerns, including an increase in rats, maggots, and a “persistent smell of decay”. She also warned of a mental health toll, with residents feeling ignored after submitting multiple unresolved reports.
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.”
The council stated that 99.5% of April’s collections were completed on time, and they expect services to normalise in May. However, Ms Irons disputed the idea that the issues were minor during a spirited online discussion in the comments section accompanying her letter.
“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.”
She added that while some areas might be unaffected, others have had waste sitting outside homes for over a month. “If someone goes to the trouble to report it, then it should be actioned.”
Fly-tipping is another flashpoint. Croydon has previously been labelled the “fly-tipping capital of England”, and community group Litter Free Norbury (LFN) has frequently criticised Veolia’s response to residents’ fly-tip reports.
LFN member Tony Hooker, who monitors Veolia’s performance, said contractors often fail to respond after initial alerts.
In February, he told the LDRS how he sometimes had to report fly-tip hotspots “four or five times” before action was taken. Frustrated by delays, LFN members have at times cleaned up waste themselves.
“We are struggling to see what improvements have been made in the new waste contract,” Mr Hooker said.
He added: “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: “Veolia is proud to work in partnership with Croydon Council to deliver essential recycling and waste collection and street cleansing services.”
The company said it completed more than 1.25 million collections in April, with 99.5% on time, and is clearing an average of 190 fly-tips daily. A night-time service launched under the new contract removed 180 tonnes of fly-tipped waste last month, they added.
“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.”
