News / Politics
Bristol bin debate goes national
The chair of Bristol City Council’s environment committee has called on the secretary of state for food & rural affairs to retract “factually incorrect” comments following his appearance on Good Morning Britain.
Martin Fodor, Green councillor for Redland, has written to Stephen Reed regarding his comments about Bristol when challenged by presenter Ed Balls about waste collection policy across the UK.
Balls referred to reports that “Bristol, Carmarthenshire (and) East Ayrshire are planning to change their black bin collection to monthly”.
is needed now More than ever
In response, Reed reiterated the suggestion by Bristol’s Labour group that the decision on the frequency of bin collection in Bristol has already been made, while the council says it will only be taken following a public consultation.
“I’m aware that in Bristol, the Green-led council has decided to move to monthly bin collections,” Reed said.
“It’s for people living in Bristol to pronounce on what they think of their council’s decision.
“They’ll get a vote at a local election and they can change the makeup of their council if that’s what they want to do.”
While Bristol City Council has opened a consultation on black bin collection with monthly collections as an option, residents are also able to choose fortnightly or three-weekly collections as a preference.
As well as a cost-cutting exercise, the council has said reducing black bin collection frequency will increase levels of recycling.
“We need to recycle more but materials that could be recycled are still being thrown away in our black bins which should be for non-recyclable waste only,” a council spokesperson has said.
“Our local analysis suggests that up to half of what is currently being thrown by households into their black non-recyclable bin is material that can be recycled.
“This includes food waste, paper and card, glass, plastic, cans, textiles and small electricals.
“Our aim is to increase the amount our city recycles to meet national targets and deliver real benefits for our city.”
Martin Fodor, chair of the environment & sustainability policy committee on Bristol City Council, has written to the secretary of state for food & rural affairs to demand he retracts “factually incorrect” comments made on Good Morning Britain – photo: Green Party
In his open letter, Fodor said: “As the minister will be aware, his government’s ‘Resources and Waste Strategy’ aims for at least 65 per cent of waste to be recycled by 2035.
“What he may not be aware of is that Bristol’s recycling rate decreased over the tenure of the previous Labour administration, and that Greens will be working hard to reverse this.
“He may also be unaware that his Labour colleagues running other local authorities such as North Somerset and South Gloucestershire have recently made changes to their waste collection schedules and even consulted upon four weekly collections themselves.
“If the minister has suggestions on how to reach his 65 per cent recycling target without reducing waste collection frequency, Bristol City Council looks forward to hearing them.
“I ask the minister to retract his comments, and we look forward to working with Labour at a national level to improve our waste and recycling services.”
In response to the letter, a Bristol Labour spokesperson said: “Almost 10,000 people have already made their voices heard and told them to scrap their plans for four-weekly bin collection.
Sadly, The Green Party are more interested in writing letters than listening to Bristolians.
“Our offer for a public meeting on this remains open. We’d urge them to take us up on this.”
The comment refers to a petition started by the Labour group leader Tom Renhard that has now received more than 9,600 signatures.
Renhard’s petition says that “the Green Party-led Bristol City Council is currently planning to scrap your bi-weekly bin collection, and instead only collect your black bins once a month”, prompting Green group leader Emma Edwards to call on Labour to stop “misleading the public”.
The waste and recycling consultation is open for responses until March 10 at www.ask.bristol.gov.uk/waste-consultation-2025
Main image: Martin Booth
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