Birmingham City Council has confirmed its long-awaited and controversial transformation of the city's waste service is now scheduled to begin in June 2026. The major overhaul, a cornerstone of the council's recovery plan, will see household rubbish collections move from weekly to fortnightly.
Key Changes and a Firm Start Date
The council's Cabinet Member for Environment, Councillor Majid Mahmood, stated this week that the authority is "ready to go" and "very confident" the rollout will commence next summer. This is despite the plans being delayed from an original April start date due to the ongoing industrial dispute with the Unite union.
Councillor Mahmood emphasised the changes "will go ahead regardless of the bins strike situation". The transformation package includes the shift to fortnightly general waste collections, the introduction of a weekly food waste collection service, and the provision of a second recycling bin specifically for paper and cardboard.
He assured residents that all elements would be introduced simultaneously, meaning no household would be moved to a fortnightly residual collection without also receiving the new food recycling service.
Phased Rollout and Potential Separate Workforce
The council has outlined that the new service will be introduced on a phased, depot-by-depot basis, starting with the Perry Barr, Lifford, and Atlas depots. Approximately 20,000 residents will be transferred to the new system every two weeks.
However, the plans indicate that residents in more complex properties, such as flats above shops and multiple occupancy dwellings, may not see the changes until quarter four of the 2026/27 financial year.
In a significant development related to the ongoing strike, the council revealed that if industrial action continues, it may establish an "alternative separate workforce" managed by a different team specifically to operate the new food waste collection service.
Rebuilding Confidence in the Service
The council acknowledges it faces a significant challenge in rebuilding public trust after the disruption of the strike, which saw huge piles of waste accumulate across the city. Councillor Mahmood stated that "extensive communication and engagement" with residents will begin early next year to support the necessary behaviour change.
"We'll go all out on this, we can't afford to fail," he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service. "Every resident needs to know when their collection will be and when they will be transferred to the new service."
The council says preparations are already advanced, with over 1,100 new collection routes planned, a new council-owned fleet of vehicles fully operational, and training underway for staff and managers. The authority claims these steps will lead to a "greener, more reliable waste service" for England's second city.
