Following June's local authority elections, the new Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition at the council decided to scrap its new wheeled bin collection scheme.
The 2.1 million service would have involved 60,000 households being given a 240-litre green wheeled bin for green waste and a black wheeled bin for residual waste to be collected on alternate weeks. The scheme had been approved in May under the previous administration and had been expected to begin its roll out in June (see letsrecycle.com story).
”The concept of someone having to keep their waste for two weeks at a time fills me with horror.“
– Cllr Len Gregory, Birmingham city council
The new service had been the first stage of a new strategy to increase Birmingham's 13.5% recycling rate to the government-set target of 18% by 2005/06 and a long-term target of 30% by 2010/11.
But following the end of Labour's 20-year reign at the council, one of the first actions of the new power-sharing coalition was to cancel the scheme pending a rethink.
Conservative Councillor Len Gregory, who now holds the portfolio for recycling and waste management at Birmingham, told letsrecycle.com that the move was primarily from a concern about the fortnightly collections of residual waste.
He explained: “It all stems from our desire not to have fortnightly collections. An inherent part of the scheme was that we would switch to fortnightly collections – we have said we are not in favour of that. The consequence is that the schemes will not be carried forward.
“The concept of someone having to keep their waste for two weeks at a time fills me with horror. I know I wouldn't want to go through that, so why should anyone else in Birmingham?” he added.
Decision
Cllr Gregory said no formal decision had been made by Birmingham city council yet concerning the way forward, but that one would be made soon. Council officers are now looking at ways to expand existing recycling services, he said, and at new ways to improve recycling rates without moving away from weekly refuse collections.
“We are now looking at innovative ways to involve people more in recycling, which is how we will make this work,” he said.
Birmingham currently produces about 500,000 tonnes of waste from its 400,000 households each year. The city already has a paper-only kerbside recycling service using bags collected fortnightly.
Switching to fortnightly collections of residual waste has been seen by many councils in the UK as a good way of reducing the amount of waste households produce. Local Government Association guidance advises that it is also a way in which collection costs can be kept low and public participation rates can be improved for recycling services.
But until residents become used to the fortnightly schemes, some councils find the systems can be unpopular. This time last year Nuneaton & Bedworth council bowed to residents' demands to scrap its alternate weekly collection scheme, citing health fears (see letsrecycle.com story).
Subscribe for free