Black bins in South Gloucestershire to be collected every three weeks to save £1m
Bin collection times are being scaled back to once every three weeks in South Gloucestershire to save a million pounds a year.
In a drive to encourage more recycling and to cut costs black bins collection dates will be reduced to once every three weeks which could save the council up to £1million a year.
residents currently get their bins, which are used for rubbish that can’t be recycled, collected every two weeks but from 2026 this will change.
The changes are part of a new contract with Suez that will run over the next eight years.
There have been concerns raised over whether this will cause overflowing but councillors believe a lot of what people put in their black bins could actually be recycled.
Labour Councillor Sean Rhodes, cabinet member for communities, said: “As we’ve come out of Covid, we’ve seen a change in people’s behaviour, and that’s why nationally there’s been a dip in recycling rates. By moving to three-weekly and by bringing in changes to our plastic recycling, we’re confident that we’ll move recycling rates up"
In an analysis of black bin waste done by the council they found 12.5 per cent is made up of food waste, 23 per cent is recyclable, and 27.7 per cent is flexible plastics meaning that only 36 per cent of the bin is used for non-recyclable waste.
Opposition councillors in South Gloucestershire council believe it could cause an environmental health risk, particularly for some disabled residents.
Conservative Cllr Samuel Bromiley said: “The changes in bin collections will have the worst impact on those with a disability, especially those in need of incontinence pads. Three weeks between collections of a bin for those using incontinence pads will obviously be an environmental health risk.”
Other changes include allowing resident to recycle more types of plastic and household waste recycling centres will now be run by the council where visitors will have to book a slot in advance of their visit.