Council could reduce amount rubbish is collected to get people to recycle more

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

Residents in a borough could soon get their bins collected less often as part of a council’s attempts to encourage them to recycle more.

Lambeth council wants to move from collecting people’s rubbish weekly to fortnightly from spring next year.

The change would affect all residents living in on-street properties with wheelie bins. People living on estates with communal bins would continue to get their waste collected weekly.

The reduced collections are part of the council’s aim to get families to recycle almost two thirds- 65 per cent – of their rubbish by 2030. Currently households in the borough recycle less than a third – 32 per cent – of their waste.

Residents in on-street properties would continue to get their recycling bins, food, garden waste, small electricals and batteries collected weekly. The council hopes this would encourage people to make greater use of recycling services.

The change would be tested out on two collection routes running mainly through West Dulwich and Tulse Hill in February 2024, before being rolled out across the rest of the borough from April 2024.

More than half of London’s 32 boroughs have already switched to fortnightly bin collections. In Hackney, recycling rates increased by seven per cent following the introduction of fortnightly collections.

According to a report set to go before councillors at a cabinet meeting next week, extra resources would be put towards cleaning to deal with any additional litter on streets as a result of the changes.

Waste collectors would remove any extra rubbish from properties, but report the addresses of any houses producing “excess waste” to so-called waste service outreach officers. These employees would then visit these properties to “understand the reasons for the over-production of waste and to discuss and agree solutions,” according to the council report.

Councillors are set to rubber stamp the plans at a cabinet meeting next Wednesday.

Councillor Rezina Chowdhury, cabinet member for sustainable Lambeth and clean air, said: “We are ambitious in our environmental goals and a London leader when it comes to putting in place the measures needed to achieve net zero by 2030.

“We want to create a borough where people recycle more, re-use more and waste less. This is something we can all embrace as we look to act locally to address the global issues of climate change, extreme weather conditions and limited resources.”

Pictured top: Lambeth council’s town hall in Brixton (Picture: Robert Firth)