Reducing costs
Black bin waste costs £130 per tonne to dispose of and this year we will need to spend about £5 million on processing this waste. On the other hand, our kerbside recycling collections result in a high quality of material that we can sell for around £30 per tonne.
Changing the waste collection frequency from fortnightly to every three weeks for most households will generate savings and help pay for vital local services.
Targets
Changing the waste collection frequency from fortnightly to every three weeks for most households will:
- reduce waste by up to 13%
- increase recycling by up to 6%
- generate savings of around £1.1m
- cut emissions from our collection vehicles and reduce the carbon impact of the service, with an estimated saving of 1,604 tCO2-eq.
- help us meet government requirements to recycle 65% of household waste by 2035
Your concerns
Following our recent waste consultation we know that some residents have concerns about being able to fit all their waste in their bin. However, it might reassure you to know that several other councils already successfully offer a three weekly waste collection, including our neighbours Somerset. When the change comes we're asking residents to give it a go, you might be surprised by how easy it is.
Advice and support will be available from a team of waste-minimisation officers. They will be able to provide tailored support and advice, as well as potentially providing additional bin capacity for some households who need it, such as:
- larger families
- people with medical and incontinence waste
- households with babies in disposable nappies
Recycling will still be collected weekly and will include a weekly collection of food waste, which makes up 27% of the average black bin.
We're also looking at how we can introduce a kerbside collection of soft plastics. We know that soft plastics such as film lids and crisp packets make up around 10% of the average black bin. From the recent consultation there was huge support (80.7%) for a soft plastics collection. This will also be a requirement from government from 2027 but we're looking to introduce it earlier alongside the change to your black bin collections.
Frequently asked questions
You can find answers to the full list of frequently asked questions below.