Birmingham City Council has announced the most significant overhaul of its waste collection service in years, confirming a switch to a new four-bin system with fortnightly collections starting in June 2026.
What's Changing in Birmingham's Bin Collections?
The transformation plan, published ahead of a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, December 9, will see every eligible household provided with four separate containers. This marks a decisive move away from the current service, which has been plagued by issues including a 12-month-long bin strike that council leaders insist will not derail these new plans.
Under the new scheme, general waste will be collected every two weeks, with recycling and food waste collections filling the alternate weeks. A dedicated weekly food waste service is a central part of the new strategy, aimed at boosting the city's recycling rates.
The New Bins: Your Full Guide
Each household will receive the following set of bins and caddies:
- A grey-lidded 180-litre wheeled bin for non-recyclable 'residual' waste, collected fortnightly.
- A blue-lidded 240-litre wheeled bin for plastics, cans, and glass, collected on alternate fortnights.
- A green-lidded 180-litre wheeled bin for paper and cardboard, also collected on alternate fortnights.
- A 23-litre outdoor food waste caddy for weekly collection.
- A 7-litre indoor food waste caddy for kitchen use, to be emptied into the larger outdoor caddy.
The council has stated that officers are developing a new policy to ensure larger families receive suitably sized containers.
Rollout Dates and Pilot Scheme
The full implementation of the new service will begin after the May bank holiday in June 2026. It will be introduced on a depot-by-depot basis, affecting around 20,000 households at a time every fortnight.
The order of rollout will be:
- Homes served by the Perry Barr depot (north Birmingham).
- Homes served by the Lifford depot (south and central areas).
- Homes served by the Atlas depot (east Birmingham).
Ahead of the main launch, a pilot scheme for the food waste service will begin in March 2026, involving 10,000 homes. The new system initially applies to properties with kerbside collections. Approximately 105,000 multiple occupancy properties and 25,000 flats above shops will be brought into the scheme at the start of 2027.
The council has pledged a major communications campaign starting next week to inform all residents about the changes and address any concerns.
