Four-weekly bin collection to be scrapped in relief for thousands of households

The aim of the move was to crack down on food waste going in the wrong bins as the council said about a quarter of most black bin rubbish was food which could be recycled

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The aim of the move was to crack down on food waste going in the wrong bins as the council said about a quarter of most black bin rubbish was food which could be recycledThe four week collection would impact thousands of households in the City of Bristol (

Image: Western Mail)

A major change to bin collections - which would see waste collected just the once over four weeks - is set to be scrapped in a relief for thousands of households.

Bristol City Council - which is run by the Green Party - will reportedly not be going ahead with the plans which were put forward in a public consultation in January. The aim of the move was to crack down on food waste going in the wrong bins as the council said about a quarter of most black bin rubbish was food which could be recycled.

According to the proposal, the move would save more than £2.3million a year and boost recycling rates. If the city moved to a three week collection, then the council said it could make a saving of £1.3million a year. If it was to go ahead, it would also make Bristol the first major UK city to move black bin collection to every four weeks.

Many English local authorities already have three-weekly collections, so this concept would not be new. North Somerset and Bury Councils have already introducde three week black bin collections. Recently, East Herts and North Herts Councils have announced they will be introduing three weekly black bin collection from August of this year.

According to data compiled by the Taxpayers Alliance last month, 42 local authorities are looking at monthly services instead of once every two weeks. This would impact around eight million Brits. Currently, Bristol council collects recycled rubbish and food waste once a week while black bins are collected every two weeks. The move to four weeks would see households having to hold onto a months worth of waste compared to previously.

The final decision for the frequency change came down to Bristol Council's cross-party environment and sustainability committee. This is chaired by Green Party councillor Martin Fodor, who said he had "made clear it was always unlikely to go ahead".

He said: "So based on what we've heard and the strength of feeling that this has generated across the city, the Greens will not be supporting any proposals put forward to move to four-weekly collections at this time. The full results of the consultation will be presented to a cross-party group to decide on any changes to our waste and recycling services."

The proposal caused major backlash from residents with a petition against the reduction to services garnering over 12,000 signatures. Currently, the city's recycling rate is just below half at 45% and the Green Party Council pledged to increase it during their term in local office. Last year, the recycling collected earned the city council £4.5million in revenue, while disposing of it would have cost the city £8.3million to process.

Councillor Tom Renhard, Labour leader on the council, said: "It has been clear from the start that this policy is totally unworkable. The Greens dropping it will be a relief to all, particularly those with larger families or newborns, who need fortnightly black bin collections."

He added: "Waste and recycling collection is the one service that every council tax payer uses and relies upon; it needs to be protected from their cuts."

Councillor James Crawford, who also sits on the environment and sustainability committee, said: "There are many changes that we need to make as a city to improve our recycling rate. Larger recycling containers, better information on recycling, more consistent facilities and services in blocks and shared dwellings, and collection of soft plastic recycling are all things we can do.

"I look forward to seeing the full results of the consultation and working cross-party on what measures we can take to improve recycling for Bristol."

The results of the public consultation, which ended on Monday, will be presented to the cross-party group of councillors who will decide on any changes. Although the date for the meeting, or announcement has not been confirmed.

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