Kerbside Bin Collection Update
(this page was last updated 9 October 2026)
Kerbside bin collections across the Cities of Charles Sturt and Port Adelaide Enfield have been affected by Cleanaway driver and truck shortages.
The Cities of Charles Sturt, Port Adelaide Enfield and CAWRA apologise to residents for the disruption and inconvenience. We continue to work closely with Cleanaway to re-establish service levels and ensure our communities receive the standard of service expected.
Cleanaway is working to restore service reliability and has been progressively introducing additional trucks and drivers to support collections (since late 2025 and ongoing). From early 2026, CAWRA also directly engaged an independent contractor to provide trucks and drivers to assist while Cleanaway recruited and trained new drivers, on a temporary basis.
These combined interventions helped to substantially reduce the numbers of missed bins between March and June 2026. Driver numbers at Cleanaway have now significantly increased and missed collection routes have also significantly reduced.
Unfortunately some issues with missed bins and missed streets continue to occur from time to time. CAWRA continues to work with Cleanaway to address those issues as a matter of urgency when they arise.
You may notice different trucks in your street at times. These additional vehicles are being provided at no cost to Council and have been helping improve collection reliability.
If your bin is missed:
- Please leave your bin out for collection the next day.
- Crews will collect missed bins as soon as possible, including on Saturdays if required
- If your bin still isn't collected the following day, please report it by calling the Wasteline on 1800 777 844 or log it as follows:
- For residents of the City of Charles Sturt: via the CCS residential portal or by emailing Cleanaway on charles.sturt@cleanaway.com.au
- For residents of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield: via the PAE residential portal or by emailing Cleanaway on pae@cleanaway.com.au
We appreciate your patience as Cleanaway works to stabilise staffing and service levels.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Cleanaway, our kerbside bin collection contractor, has been experiencing severe staff shortages.
This has reduced the number of trucks and drivers on the road each day emptying bins, leading to missed bins and delayed collections.
This improved significantly between March and June 2026 following intervention by CAWRA, with far fewer bins missed as driver numbers have progressively increased.
Unfortunately missed bins still occur from time to time.
CAWRA and the Councils continue to work closely with Cleanaway to urgently address issues when they arise.
Cleanaway aims to collect bins on their scheduled collection day.
If your bin has been missed please leave it out for collection the next day.
If it is not collected the following day please report it by calling the waste line 1800 777 844 or use one of the links below:
If a bin is reported as unemptied on day 3 (where day 1 was the scheduled collection), CAWRA will arrange for an independent contractor to attend.
CAWRA and our Councils (the Cities of Charles Sturt and Port Adelaide Enfield) are working to ensure Cleanaway implements immediate actions to address these issues.
Measures implemented to date include:
- recruitment and training of additional drivers
- changes to employment arrangements to support retention
- from late 2025, Cleanaway engaged an additional alternative contractor to help empty bins
- from late January 2026, a separate (independent) contractor has also been engaged by CAWRA to provide additional support
- from 4 March 2026, given the extent of ongoing issues, CAWRA expanded this arrangement to bring additional new trucks and drivers in from interstate to assist
- CAWRA and the Councils are increasing contractual oversight, including more frequent reporting and senior-level engagement, to ensure urgent actions are implemented and sustained.
These combined interventions substantially improved service levels during March, April, May and June 2026.
Unfortunately some issues with missed bins and missed runs still occur from time to time. CAWRA and the Councils work to address issues when they arise as a matter of urgency.
The Councils and CAWRA will continue to actively manage the contract, monitor performance closely, and take further action as required to protect service outcomes for the community.
These corrective measures are being implemented at no additional cost to the two Councils, CAWRA or our residents.
Cleanaway is being penalised and bears the cost of catchup collections.
Cleanaway engaged an alternative contractor (Veolia) in late 2025 to assist with missed bins.
From late January 2026, CAWRA has also engaged an additional alternative contractor (Solo Resource Recovery) to provide additional support.
From 4 March 2026, CAWRA expanded the arrangement with Solo Resource Recovery to introduce further additional trucks and drivers from interstate to assist on a temporary basis.
These alternative contractors helped empty bins Cleanaway’s drivers were unable to get to in time.
As a result, you may notice different trucks and crews in your area during this time. Don't worry, they are working to restore service reliability while Cleanaway recruits and trains new drivers.
Yes – all bin types could be impacted.
Where resources are limited, Cleanaway is prioritising the emptying of waste bins, in the first instance. As a result, recycling and organics bins are more likely to be missed and require collection on the following day.
Yes.
Bins from each collection stream (general waste, recycling, and food/green organics) will continue to be collected in separate trucks. This ensures your recyclables and compostable material can be taken to the correct destination for sorting and processing.
Yes.
Even if it’s your whole street, there is still a possibility that no-one else has let us know these bins were missed.
If your bins have not been emptied the day after your usual collection day, please report it on the online portal that shows at the top of this page, or on the Wasteline number provided.
Cleanaway has been hiring and training new drivers to replace drivers who have left. That means there is a higher than usual number of new and inexperienced drivers emptying bins around the Council at present. They are being reminded of the need to handle bins carefully and we expect this to improve as these new drivers gain skills and experience.
The alternative contractors were engaged from late 2025 until late May 2026 when Cleanaway advised that they had engaged and trained sufficient drivers to provide the service without this additional help.
They may be re-engaged again from time to time as required.
Please continue to place your bins out by 6am on your scheduled collection day.
If your bin is missed please leave it on the kerbside for collection the next day.
If it is still not collected the next day please report it to Wasteline on 1800 777 844 or via your resident portal using the link below:
Cancelling the contract with Cleanaway would not fix the problem.
It would have the undesired impact of immediately reducing the number of trucks and drivers available to empty bins.
In the short term, the focus is to hold Cleanaway to their contract requirements and call in additional resources (through other contractors) to provide additional support.
The process to award a new kerbside contract would typically take 2 years to complete. This is due to the time taken to undergo a public tender process, select a new service provider and for them to order new trucks ready for the start date of a new contract.
The majority of that time relates to the lead-time needed to order and commission a new fleet of waste collection trucks (which takes up to 18 months).
Cleanaway has engaged and has trained a new group of drivers to work on household collections across the two Councils. These new drivers have been progressively introduced into the fleet as they completed the training required. Typically, it takes a few weeks for a new driver to reach a normal level of productivity.
Interstate trucks and drivers were also introduced since 4 March to provide further support on a temporary basis.
Services stabilised significantly from March 2026 as a result of these interventions. Cleanaway advised in late May that they would no longer require this additional support in June.
Unfortunately, some challenges (including an increase in the number of missed bins) have re-occurred from time to time.
CAWRA continues to work closely with Cleanaway to address these issues when they arise and re-establish service reliability for residents.
The Central Adelaide Waste and Recycling Authority (CAWRA) is the regional subsidiary managing waste and recycling matters on behalf of the Cities of Charles Sturt and Port Adelaide Enfield.