'Trying to recycle IKEA flat pack boxes has become the biggest pain of my existence'

A West Didsbury charity worker has gone to extreme measures after binmen missed her recycling for WEEKS.

When Stacey Dolan moved into her new home in mid-December she noticed her general waste wheelie bin was emptied as scheduled. But to her dismay, the blue recycling bin was ‘not even touched’.

Initially, Stacey put the problem down to disrupted working patterns over Christmas, but the issue persisted after New Year. The 35-year-old charity worker then complained to Manchester City Council, as her blue bin was full-to-bursting with furniture packaging as she made herself at home.

“It’s never been collected since. I have bought IKEA flat pack and trying to recycle that cardboard is the biggest pain of my existence,” Stacey told the Local Democracy Reporting Service on February 14.

“I know how to put the bloody bins out, I’ve been doing this for years,” she went on.

Desperate, she ‘even drew on a cardboard sign [saying] ‘hey bin team please do not forget me’.

Stacey explained: “It’s really frustrating doing the same thing every week. I just want to settle in my house.”

At first, her complaints did not seem to get her anywhere, with Stacey likening the situation to ‘Einstein’s definition of insanity, where I’m just repeating the same thing every week’.

But a breakthrough appears to have been reached after Stacey told LDRS about the situation, and her complaint was also passed on to Coun Lee-Ann Igbon, the council’s executive member for vibrant neighbourhoods.

It now appears an extra collection was ordered over the weekend (February 15) to take the remainder of Stacey’s recycling, and Manchester council has apologised.

A spokesperson said ‘a number of factors’ like ‘roadworks and inclement weather’ were to blame for the