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Rubbish bins to be collected as soon as each 4 weeks as UK residents left fuming

Fuming locals in Bristol have been made to feel rubbish after learning that their fortnightly bin collection is about to get a bit longer as the council looks to make it once a month

Bins in Bristol
Locals are all feeling rubbish about it (stock)(Image: Tom Wren / SWNS)

Residents in one of Britain’s biggest cities are up in arms over plans to only collect their black rubbish bins once every four weeks.

Bristol City Council could become the first local authority in England to introduce the controversial move.

The Green council argues that going from a two to four-weekly collection would save it more than £2m a year and help reverse a dip in recycling rates.

It claims the average resident throws away £700 of food per year, and around a quarter of the average black bin is recyclable food waste.

But critics fear it could lead to more fly-tipping and say the least that the city’s population of 480,000 expects is for rubbish to be collected.

Black bin collections for Bristol residents
Could you cope with monthly bin collections? (stock)(Image: Tom Wren / SWNS)

Resident Ailish Mann said: “I’m not sure what more they want us to do.

“It’s just not going to work. It’s going to turn Bristol into a rubbish tip.

“It does make people angry when they are doing their best, and the council are just turning a blind eye to the reality of it.”

Mark Weston, the leader of the council’s Tory group, branded the proposals “utter rubbish”.

He fumed: “The minimum residents expect from their council is to collect rubbish and they expect that to be regular and on time.

“If you start taking that away, they have to question what value they are getting from their council tax.”

Black bin collections for Bristol residents could be reduced to once every four weeks
Locals want a bigger bin if plans go ahead (stock)(Image: Tom Wren / SWNS)

The authority said it is facing increasing costs of treating waste, which has increased by £4m in the last five years.

Martin Fodor, the council’s chair of the environment and sustainability committee, said: “We firmly believe that by collecting black bin waste once every three or four weeks instead of two will increase the amount of waste our city recycles, reduce costs and significantly lower carbon emissions.”

Council deputy leader Heather Mack said the authority would “struggle” to make the necessary savings without making the proposed changes.

She said: “We are looking at everything.”

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Larger bins would be offered for larger households, she added.

If the plans are approved, the council believes it would be the first English city to cut collections to every four weeks, potentially paving the way for other areas to introduce it.

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