Major changes to bin collections are being introduced in the north of Birmingham, but residents are calling for the return of a key waste service that remains suspended. The council’s new leadership—a minority coalition of Liberal Democrats, Greens, and independents—has confirmed it is proceeding with plans to transform the city’s waste collection service. The changes include moving household rubbish collection from weekly to fortnightly, introducing a second recycling bin, and launching a food waste collection.
Pilot Scheme in Northern Wards
The new system is being rolled out across northern wards served by the Perry Barr depot as a pilot. The council says the effectiveness of this pilot will be assessed before deciding whether to keep the arrangement and extend it citywide. However, services such as garden waste and bulky waste, suspended last year due to the bins strike, remain unavailable with no definite return date.
Responding to a Birmingham Council Facebook post about the bin changes, residents voiced strong feelings about the garden waste collection service. “What about garden [waste], no mention of that,” wrote Gail Blakemore. Philippa Clarkin said: “I support the sentiment to make Birmingham cleaner and greener. But your priority should be the reintroduction of recycling and garden waste collections across the whole city.” Colin Stubbs asked: “I have got a question about my old bins, particularly recycling and garden – when are you going to empty them?” Alan Morbey added: “I think the garden waste bin should be part of the fortnightly collection at no extra cost.” Andy Deere simply asked: “What about garden waste collections?”
Council Response on Garden and Bulky Waste
Councillor Harris Khaliq, cabinet member for city operations and digital, was asked last week whether it was the plan to reintroduce garden and bulky waste collections soon. “These are things all on the administration’s radar,” he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service. “It’s a part of cleaning up Birmingham. I would love to bring back bulky waste, it was something put into our commitments, it’s something I’m still comfortable we’re able to deliver.” However, the independent councillor acknowledged that the return of garden and bulky waste could be part of a future ‘package’ further down the line in the coming years, rather than part of the rollout that started this week.
In a statement, Cllr Khaliq said one of the coalition’s key commitments was to “clean up this fantastic city”. He added: “[This] is why it’s essential that we improve waste collection and test the best way to do this in Birmingham. We took a step back and reflected on the transformation programme, and this approach is designed to give households more opportunities to recycle, provide more capacity for their waste and put in additional measures to tackle issues such as fly-tipping. Birmingham’s new administration is absolutely focused on making sure this city has a waste service residents can be proud of. We have listened to people’s concerns and will continue to do so, adjusting the new ways of working based on feedback throughout the pilot phase.”
Funding and Enforcement
He continued: “Birmingham must have a waste service that works and provides value for money. If we continue with low recycling rates, the city could lose out on millions of pounds of government funding that could go back into funding services for residents. The new system means people get more collections, more value for money and cleaner streets.” He added there would be more CCTV cameras and new enforcement officers “in parallel” with the new service to help clean up the city. The pilot’s outcome will determine whether garden and bulky waste services are reinstated, but for now, residents are left waiting.
