Council plan to reintroduce recycling collections

Birmingham City Council is working towards a planned reintroduction of recycling collections, alongside the transformation of the waste service, the council leader has said.

One impact of the bin strike, now in its second year, was the Labour-run authority suspending recycling collections in February 2025.

The council previously said its delayed changing of the waste service, including reintroducing recycling, is set to be rolled out in phases from this June. It stated this would happen regardless of whether the strike was still happening or not.

Leader John Cotton said the authority was "very keen to get back to a position where we can deliver recycling collections across the city".

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service recently, he gave an update on when such collections could return.

He was asked whether it was still the plan for recycling to be reintroduced alongside transforming the waste service.

"That's absolutely what we're working towards at the moment," Cotton said.

"I know that there's real frustration around the fact that we've not been able to offer a full range of recycling services over the last year."

The leader added that obviously it had continued to collect residual waste weekly.

The overall timeline for implementing all the new waste services would take about 12 months starting from June, a council report said.

It stated there would be a "three-month initial implementation phase, followed by a nine-month roll-out and reintegration of services".

"The first three months will focus on workforce mobilisation, alongside comprehensive resident communications and engagement."

This rollout will happen in phases across the Perry Barr, Lifford and Atlas Waste depots in Birmingham.

Transforming the waste service will see household rubbish collections move from weekly to fortnightly.

Weekly food waste collections and a second recycling bin specifically for recycling paper and cardboard are also set to be introduced in phases across the city from June onwards.

The bin strike dispute between the council and Unite The Union was initially triggered by the loss of the Waste Recycling and Collection Officer role.

Striking workers have claimed they face a £8,000 pay cut. The council disputes this figure and insists a fair offer had been made.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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