Bin bags started piling up under a new fortnightly collection plan – the latest attempt by the council to deal with its collections that have been reduced by an 18 month strike
There is fury as bin bags have started piling up in the city where workers have been on strike for 18 months.
Councillors have hit out the latest attempt to improve waste collection in Birmingham, where refuse workers started industrial action in early 2025.
The government were forced to bring army planners in to keep some collections going after the council declared a major incident as infestations of maggots and rats ‘as big as cats’ took hold around uncollected bin bags on the city streets, reports Birmingham Live.
But the latest attempt to improve recycling collections has been met with fury as the council told 50,000 residents an incorrect start date, and missed out some properties.
Conservative Cllr Richard Parkin slammed the council for missing out a block of flats in Sutton Coldfield. In a video, he said: “I am actually really annoyed. The council has introduced this waste pilot scheme without any consultation with councillors.
“They have introduced fortnightly household waste collections and they have also included in the scheme flats.”
His video then shows piles of black bags, with split bags with nappies and animal waste spilling out.
He added people in flats generate a lot of waste and lack space to accommodate the wheelie bins needed: “[The council] needs to stop fortnightly waste collections outside flats. It isn’t working. It’s not going to work and they have let everybody down.
“Birmingham City Council sort it out!”
Labour lost control of the council in May, with a new minority coalition of Greens, Liberal Democrats, and independent Better Birmingham councillors now trying to turn the city’s waste problem around.
The councillor with that task is Harris Khaliq, who acknowledged ‘issues’ during the new service’s introduction. He apologised to the 50,000 households given ‘incorrect calendar information’.
Cllr Khaliq said: “We understand one size does not fit all. We have a diverse city with different types of properties, high density properties, low density properties.
“Driveways, no driveways, terraced houses, semi-detached houses, and all sorts that we have got to take into account to make something work.”
He also acknowledged the issue with the flats, and said it would be ‘captured and co-ordinated’ to make sure wider lessons are learnt and implemented into the wider city’s plan.
The council, Britain’s largest, and trade unions are said to be close to agreeing a pay deal, but remain tight-lipped on ‘sensitive’ negotiations.
Previously, the council explained it was starting the fortnightly pilot so it could improve recycling rates to access new government funding. During the bin strike, recycling bins have not been collected in swathes of Birmingham.
A spokesperson said: “If we continue with low recycling rates, the city could lose out on millions of pounds of government funding that could go back into funding services for residents.
“The new system means people get more collections, more value for money and cleaner streets. We want to work with everyone in the pilot areas to make this a success that can benefit the whole city.”