The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has insisted weekly refuse collections are still viable for councils in England, despite an imminent end to its Collection Support Scheme funding.
Explaining that councils still have access to “almost £200 billion” to spend across the lifetime of Parliament, the Department said this could go on “services that local people most want”.
Birmingham city council is one of the authorities which has retained weekly waste collections under the DCLG Scheme
A DCLG spokesman added: “We’ve safeguarded weekly bin collections for six million households and our clear guidance shows councils how weekly collections can be delivered cost effectively.”
Its message comes as the government’s £250 million Weekly Collection Support Scheme for local authorities that has maintained weekly collections dries up – leading some councils to reconsider their position in the wake of mounting budget pressures.
DCLG
A number of local authorities, which have benefited from the scheme, were highlighted by former Communities Secretary Eric Pickles in his ‘guide on weekly rubbish collections’ – dubbed the ‘Bin Bible’ within the waste industry.
Published in January 2014, the document caused controversy by suggesting the cost savings and higher recycling rates reported by councils that had already introduced fortnightly refuse collections were a ‘myth’.
However, some of those councils which were championed by Mr Pickles in the document – such as Bradford and Southampton – have recently decided to introduce fortnightly collections.
And many others on the government’s case study list have either debated scrapping weekly collections or have not ruled out a change to collections in the near future.
Eric Pickles, former Communities Secretary, defending DCLG’s findings at the RWM Show in 2014
The trend has been exacerbated by mounting budget pressures for authorities in 2017/18, as well as an end to funding under the DCLG Collection Scheme which this year expires.
The 2014 guidance notes: “The scheme will safeguard weekly collections for around six million households until 2017 whilst an extra 400,000 tonnes of material will be recycled and a million less tonnes of waste-related carbon dioxide emitted.”
Bradford
The Bin Bible cites Bradford metropolitan district council as one council which recycles 50% of its household waste or more despite collecting residual waste every week.
However, in 2015/16 the council’s recycling rate fell to 39.9%, and the authority has now decided to switch from weekly to fortnightly refuse collections from April 2017.
A report by the council’s strategic director for Environment & Sport in October 2016 notes: “The last 10 years has seen nationally a significant move towards collecting kerbside residual household waste fortnightly, with recyclables on the alternate week, and is now very much the norm among local authorities in the UK.
“All our neighbouring councils in West Yorkshire configure their household waste collections in this way, and we believe we are the only council left in Yorkshire providing a weekly residual waste collection. Some councils are now moving to collecting residual waste only every third week, the latest example of this is Rochdale.”
The council has noted a ‘good response’ from residents to the proposals following a fortnightly trial in the Wyke ward area in the autumn.
Southampton
Southampton city council, which received £8.3 million under the weekly scheme, has also proposed switching to fortnightly collections in its 2017/18 budget.
Southampton city council has started communicating the proposed collection changes to residents
According to the authority, more than 237 local authorities in England have changed to the system and ‘as a result have increased their recycling rates’. It adds it is a ‘tried and tested formula’ which would bring its services in line with many others across the country.
The council adds: “Moving to an alternate weekly collections will allow us to deploy our resources more effectively and reduce the amount of public money we spend on refuse collection and disposal. Having fewer collections offers us savings which we need to make in the light of reducing funding from central government.”
North Tyneside
However, some councils have bucked the trend opted to retain weekly collections despite a need to create savings.
In November, North Tyneside council decided to retain the service due to its popularity with residents, while conceding ‘only 6%’ of waste collecting authorities have kept the system.
However, North Tyneside has been required to find an additional £397,000 in its budget for the last financial year in order to maintain its weekly service (see letsrecycle.com story). The council achieved a 36.6% recycling rate in 2015/16, and it has set itself a goal to increase this to 45% in 2017.
Other councils which were showcased in the Bin Bible with no plans to switch to fortnightly or three-weekly collections include Cornwall, Windsor & Maidenhead, and Bournemouth.
Birmingham city council, the largest single local authority in England, has also retained weekly collections. However, like nearby Sandwell council it has plans to review its collections in the next few years.
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Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
