Solihull Council considers fortnightly bin collections

SHAKE-UP: An ongoing review of waste and recycling
services could see a move to fortnightly bin collections

HOUSEHOLD bins could be emptied fortnightly in Solihull, as the council considers further changes to its waste and recycling service.
Currently the local authority collects general rubbish on a weekly basis, but in a recent report the council says it may consider reducing the service to every other week in future.
This option – which has proven controversial when introduced to other parts of the country – is one of several being discussed by the council as a way to increase recycling.
One possible model would see the collection of materials such as bottles, cans and paper, fall on alternate weeks to the standard black wheelie bin.
Council officers believe that previous changes, designed to make recycling more straightforward, may make it easier for residents to cope without a weekly service.
A council report said: “If a comprehensive recycling service is provided, many residents find that they do not fill their rubbish bin weekly and can cope easily with less frequent collections of rubbish.”
Although the authority concedes that another advantage of the fortnightly collections is that they cost less.
The council notes that any change could not happen within the next couple of years; Solihull previously pledged to continue weekly collections until 2018, one of the conditions attached to a £2.9million grant from central government.
The council has also said a public consultation would be held ahead of any proposed change to a fortnightly collection.
In a foreword to the report, Councillor Robert Hulland, the cabinet member in charge of bin collections, said: “To continue to improve our performance we will need the continued support of our residents and their feedback on our service.”
The issue over fortnightly collections has been the subject of heated debate for several years, with former Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles trying to bring pressure on councils who have already scrapped the weekly service.
In 2012, he said: “Weekly bin collections are one of the most visible front-line services and there is no plausible reason why councils should not deliver them to hard-working residents.”

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