Labour launches petition opposing plans to cut black bin collections to once a month

Labour has launched a petition opposing Bristol City Council plans to cut black bin collections to once a month. The opposition group has already collected more than 700 signatures in just one week since it went live online.

As reported last week, a leaked document obtained by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) revealed the proposal to reduce kerbside collections for general waste from two to three or even four weeks.

Big changes are also planned for household recycling rubbish, which could be taken away “less frequently than weekly” if an option for just one wheelie bin for all reusable materials receives support from residents in a forthcoming public consultation.

The council insists no changes will be made until all the feedback is considered. Speaking to the LDRS, Labour group leader Cllr Tom Renhard, who launched the petition, said the proposals would be a “disaster”.

He said: “A monthly black bin collection would cause many problems for local residents across Bristol, especially large families and parents with young children. The Greens need to withdraw this ill-thought out proposal and reassure Bristolians that it won’t go ahead.

“In my own ward of Horfield, along with many other areas of the city, there have been issues with the collection of bins and recycling in recent weeks and months. These problems need to be fixed first before proposing reductions in services and significant hikes in council tax for citizens.

“Under Labour, Bristol had the highest recycling rate of any major UK city – the council should build on this work by making recycling easier and encouraging it. Pushing ahead with these plans will surely only lead to disaster. I would encourage everyone to sign our petition and have your voices heard."

The petition said: “The Green Party-led Bristol City Council is currently planning to scrap your bi-weekly bin collection, and instead only collect your black bins once a month.

“Yet, they are also proposing a 15 per cent rise in council tax – adding £245 to the bills of the average household. Bristolians shouldn’t have to pay more and get less.

“Under these plans, if someone misses their monthly collection, they will have rubbish in their house for a whole extra month before the next bin collection. This could lead to increases in fly-tipping – which is already a scourge across our city.

“To improve recycling rates further, the council needs to improve the recycling services offered to include additional materials, like nappies and soft plastics, and ensure that all residents that live in flats have an equal opportunity to recycle, which is currently hit and miss.”

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Multiple sources told Bristol Live that public consultation was due to be launched on Monday, November 18, but the council says this was not the case and that no date will be set until all relevant parts of the local authority are satisfied with the preparations to provide the required level of details so that residents can give informed feedback.

Environment and sustainability policy committee chairman Cllr Martin Fodor (Green, Redland) said: “The council faces a significant challenge to ensure that our city wastes less and recycles and reuses more if we are to build a cleaner, more sustainable Bristol.

“At present, we recycle just over 45 per cent of our city’s waste, more than triple the rate we were recycling two decades ago. Achieving the national goal of recycling at least 65 per cent of municipal waste by 2035 means change needs to happen.

“This change needs to be in our city’s behaviours and attitude towards waste and recycling as well as changes in how we manage our city’s waste systems and the financing of such services.

“This all needs to happen against a backdrop of significant gaps in council budgets, regulatory changes we have to deal with, and immediate needs to cut carbon emissions in the face of the climate crisis.”

He said councillors on the environment and sustainability policy committee recently met with officers to discuss potential changes.

Cllr Fodor said: “Draft options put before councillors included changes to how and when waste and recycling is collected, ideas for preventing waste in the first place, and possible new ways in which residents can recycle their waste in different types of accommodation/housing.

“All options remain draft proposals at this stage and no decisions have been taken and no decision will be taken on significant changes to the future of waste and recycling services in our city without consulting with residents and engaging with businesses first.

“Officers have been instructed to prepare a city-wide consultation so that we can better understand the needs and views of our city before councillors from all parties will be asked to consider the best course of action to take.

“The responses to the consultation will be taken into account by councillors when considering their decision.”

He said changes to bin collections in neighbouring authorities and elsewhere had resulted in better recycling rates.

South Gloucestershire Council recently approved plans to reduce its black bin collections to three-weekly, having also considered but rejected four-weekly.

Cllr Renhard’s petition can be found here: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/say-no-to-monthly-bin-collections-in-bristol

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