Black bin collections could be reduced to once every four weeks

Black bin collections for Bristol residents could be reduced to once every four weeks under drastic proposals by the city council, according to a leaked document.

Recycling days could also be cut to “less frequently than weekly” if an option for one wheelie bin for all reusable materials is taken forward, while another would see one wheeled bin each for paper and card, plastic and cans, and glass, with each collected three-weekly on rotation per week.

The local authority needs to make savings amid soaring costs of providing the service and a huge budget blackhole, as well as targeting better recycling rates, the papers say.

The council is launching a yet-to-be-announced public consultation on Monday which will ask what householders think about reducing black bin days from fortnightly to three- or four-weekly.

It follows a decision by South Gloucestershire Council on Monday to cut collections of non-recyclable household waste from every two to three weeks, having also proposed options of reducing collections to once every three or four weeks.

The leaked Bristol City Council document, seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, said: “Through changes in regulation and increasing operational, inflation and investment costs, our waste and recycling service is facing an additional bill of £5m to £9m per year.

“Without cost reductions we may need to reduce services and performance standards. This amount will be reduced if we can recycle more and waste less.”

Black bin collections in Bristol could be reduced to once every four weeks under drastic proposals by the city council – photo: Bristol Waste

The report said the council had considered three options:

• Keeping the service as it was would mean no reduction in carbon emissions from recycling and potential increased exposure to future carbon taxes, while between £500,000 and £1m would still have to be spent on public educational campaigns to maintain current levels of performance.
• Reducing black bin collections to three-weekly would boost the recycling rate by about six per cent, with about 40 per cent reduction in carbon emissions from collecting and treating waste and recycling. This would result in a saving of about £1m.
• Collecting black bins once every four weeks would increase the recycling rate by ten per cent and there would be a 50 per cent drop in carbon emissions, while an estimated £2m would be saved.

The proposals apply to households only, not businesses or flats with communal collections or mini-recycling centres where more support and service improvements would be provided to increase recycling, the document said.

It also said that the council needed to replace its recycling vehicles in 2027, which opened the door for other ways of storing recycling

Bristol City Council will ask residents if they would like the current arrangements to stay the same or choose from three alternatives.

1. A larger sack for card and paper and a large sack for plastic and cans instead of a box.
2. For one wheeled bin for each recycling material – card and paper, plastic and cans, and glass – which would each be collected alternately every week, with each picked up three-weekly.
3. For one larger capacity wheelie bin for all paper, card, plastic and cans mixed together, collected less than weekly, although the document does not say how often this would be.

For large households of more than six people, additional capacity for black bin waste could be provided, the document said.

Main photo: Bristol Waste

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