The Green-run Bristol City Council has ruled out four-weekly bin collections after pushback from residents.
The Council consulted on proposals to implement black bin waste collections once every three or four weeks instead of two, which it said would have saved millions of pounds per year and increase recycling rates.
Following the closure of the consultation, the Green Party has ruled out supporting four-weekly black bin collections in Bristol.
Cllr Martin Fodor, Chair of the Environment and Sustainability Committee, said that “based on what we’ve heard and the strength of feeling that this has generated across the city, the Greens will not be supporting any proposals put forward to move to four-weekly collections at this time.”
Fodor said the full results of the consultation will be presented to a cross-party group to decide on any changes to waste and recycling services in Bristol.
The Green Party has promised to increase recycling rates in Bristol from 45% to 65% by 2035, which is in line with the government’s “Resource and Waste Strategy”.
In a blog on the council website, Deputy Leader of the Council Heather Mack said that in 2024, the recycling collected by Bristol waste earned the city £4.5 million in revenue while disposing of it would have cost the city £8.3 million to process.
Cllr James Crawford, who also sits on the Environment and Sustainability committee, commented: “There are many changes that we need to make as a city to improve our recycling rate.
“Larger recycling containers, better information on recycling, more consistent facilities and services in blocks and shared dwellings, and collection of soft plastic recycling are all things we can do.”
