South Gloucestershire Council suggests plan to reduce black bin collections

South Gloucestershire Council leaders are considering whether to reduce the frequency of black bin collections to save money and encourage more recycling

South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) has told the government it needs to reduce black bin collections to once every three weeks to hit recycling targets.

It says fewer household waste collections will plug a funding gap and encourage people to recycle more.

It has asked contractors bidding to be its new waste partner to submit costs for fortnightly collections.

Collections would continue as normal until the new contract starts in August 2025, when it might be reduced.

In a briefing to Whitehall, the council's clear preference is to reduce collections and introduce those measures in 2026, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reports.

It has said this would only happen after measures were put in place to recycle more household materials, like soft plastics.

A 25-year contract with Suez ends in 2025, and in October the Lib Dem/Labour cabinet approved plans to go out to tender for a kerbside collection service.

The council faces a financial gap of £3m to £5m and is taking steps to meet some of the shortfall including doubling the cost of its garden waste collections from £30 to £60 in this year's budget.

In its briefing, the authority said: "There is no other viable option to increase recycling substantially without moving to three-weekly.

"Saving from increased food waste collection will be minor unless SGC moves to less frequent black bin collections.

"SGC is planning to continue with the proposal to bring in three-weekly in 2026."

One potential stumbling block is statutory guidance, announced by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) in October, that would require local authorities to collect black bin waste at least once every two weeks.

But the council has told the Government that external legal advice stated this would not be compulsory as long as it had "cogent reasons".

Final bids for the contract are expected in the summer in the hope a successful bidder can be appointed in October.