Black bin collections in South Gloucestershire could be cut to once every three or four weeks from 2025. The move could cut costs and carbon emissions while encouraging residents to recycle more and throw away less rubbish into general waste.
The district is now recycling 60 percent of its waste, new figures reveal, with new plans underway to increase that figure further. The recycling rate is one of the highest in England, but the new target is to reach 70 percent by the end of the decade.
South Gloucestershire Council currently has a 25-year contract for waste collection with Suez, but this comes to an end in July 2025. Council chiefs are beginning to explore what bin collections will look like after the contract ends, including collecting black bins less often.
But council chiefs stressed that the current plan is to stick with a two-weekly collection. Addressing a meeting of the Scrutiny Commission on Wednesday 5th October 2022, Keirsten Wilson, project manager at the council, said:
“At the moment the intention is to stay with the current regime and timescale of black bin collections.”
“The rationale for leaving it on the table for consideration in the future, and that could be quite far in the future, is the direction of travel of central government and the targets that are being set. But we’re not suggesting that at this time to change from the current two-weekly residual collections.”
Details of how bin collections could look after 2025 were revealed in recent Cabinet papers. The Cabinet signed off plans to explore options after the Suez contract ends, which includes collecting black bins only once every four weeks, when it met on Monday 10th October 2022.
Councillor Rachael Hunt, Cabinet member for communities, said:
“Reaching a recycling rate of 60 percent is a significant milestone on our journey to recycle and reuse more of our waste. This fantastic result puts us well ahead of the national average, and is testament to the commitment and effort that our residents put into recycling their waste.”
“It’s also thanks to our ambitious changes to waste and recycling collections, which are delivering results. We’re well on our way to hit our 70 percent recycling target with nothing going to landfill by 2030, and it’s fantastic to see how our residents have embraced changes to collections for the good of the environment.”
Across the country, 15 percent of councils are considering switching to a four-weekly collection, according to Cabinet papers, and the switch could save South Gloucestershire £800,000 a year. A four-weekly collection could prove more challenging than three-weekly, as residents would have much less space for their rubbish, but it could also mean a simpler collection schedule.
No formal plans have been agreed yet and the council would consult the public before any changes are made. It’s understood that the switch would not affect recycling or food waste, but could cut down on fuel costs and carbon emissions as bin lorries would spend much less time driving around the district.
More information:
- Agenda and reports for the Scrutiny Commission meeting on 5th October (SGC)
- Agenda and reports for the Cabinet meeting on 10th October (SGC)
✍️ Article by Alex Seabrook, Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).
