Green council ditches plan to collect black bins once a month
A Green Party council has ditched plans to collect residents' black bins in Bristol only once a month following a backlash.
Bristol council launched a six-week consultation, which included the option of switching from bin collections every two weeks to monthly in order to save more than £2 million a year and boost recycling rates.
Both Labour and the Conservatives had proposed motions calling on the council to rule out switching to four-weekly bin collections, and more than 12,000 people signed a petition opposing the plan.
Benjamin Elks, the grassroots development manager at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'Bristolians are sick to the back teeth of their council's hare-brained schemes.
'Residents shouldn't have to put up with overflowing bins and filthy streets just because the council is more interested in virtue-signalling than doing its job.'
Following the backlash, the Green Party administration announced it would not be supporting the move.
Martin Fodor, a Green councillor who chairs the cross-party environment and sustainability committee, said: 'The four-weekly option was put in the consultation as an outlier for modelling purposes, and I made clear it was always unlikely to go ahead.
'And so based on what we've heard and the strength of feeling that this has generated across the city, the Greens will not be supporting any proposals put forward to move to four-weekly collections at this time.
'The full results of the consultation will be presented to a cross-party group to decide on any changes to our waste and recycling services.
'I would like to thank everyone who made the time to make their voice heard. The Greens aim to be as collaborative and transparent in our decision making as possible.
'While other parties consult on pre-made decisions, the views of Bristol will always be taken into account under this administration.'
The city's recycling rate is at around 45 per cent, and the Green Party has previously pledged to increase it.
Last year, the recycling collected earned the council £4.5 million in revenue, while disposing of it would have cost the city £8.3 million to process.
Cllr James Crawford, who also sits on the environment and sustainability committee, said: 'There are many changes that we need to make as a city to improve our recycling rate.
'I look forward to seeing the full results of the consultation and working cross-party on what measures we can take to improve recycling for Bristol.'
A number of authorities have switched to monthly collections, including Fife council and Conwy County borough council.
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