Binman empties six million bins in 40 years - council
BBCA bin lorry driver has been recognised for his dedication after 40 years of working - during which time, the council said, he collected six million bins.
Keith Sayers has helped recycle about a billion items for Rushcliffe Borough Council (RBC) in Nottinghamshire and travelled roughly 240,000 miles during his career, the authority said.
He joined the council aged 20 in 1986 on a six-month temporary contract, initially helping electricians and the drainage team in the buildings department before taking on a full-time role within the waste team.
Sayers told the BBC: "Time has absolutely flown by. I can't actually believe it myself I've done it for 40 years."
Sayers said he had seen major changes to bin collections across Rushcliffe, starting out by manually collecting ash bins and waste bags before the introduction of wheelie bins and bin lifts on waste vehicles in the 2000s.
He also said the size of the trucks had increased since he began the job when recycling "wasn't really a thing".
But Sayers said one thing that had not changed was residents calling the council to check if the waste lorries were on their way.
"Time has absolutely flown by. I can't actually believe it myself I've done it for 40 years but it doesn't seem strange to me in another way.
"I've just got up in the morning and I've done my job and life has just carried on. It's been a great job for me, it really has.
"It's been security for me and it's also been nice to meet the general public on the whole, they are nice and we do get appreciated," he said.
Darryl Burch, RBC's assistant director for environment and communities, said Sayers was "a fantastic member" of the team.
"To be here at Rushcliffe for 40 years is really impressive and in the same job for all those years is remarkable.
"He has worked outside in all weathers and the change he has seen is amazing.
"Keith had worked here for 20 years before we even introduced wheeled bins.
"At the time crews were going around the back of properties to pull bags out of bins and in parts of the borough removing full bins of ash," he said.
Rob Inglis, cabinet portfolio holder for environment and safety, added: "Anyone working in any industry this length of time deserves recognition but the fact this can be such a challenging role at times in the extremities of the weather is testament to his work ethic."
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