Weekly garbage collection plan suspended by city council Brighton News

Under the proposed changes, recycling would still be collected every two weeks and all other waste would be collected once every two weeks.

But advisers worried that missed collections could mean “piles of garbage” piling up on people’s doorsteps.

At a meeting of the council’s environment, transportation and sustainability committee, they said a missed trash round would mean a one-month gap between garbage collections.

They also questioned costs in a report that omitted “catch-up” or “clean-up” costs for missed tours.

The proposed changes come as the government requires all councils to hold weekly food waste collections by 2023.

Councilor Gary Wilkinson told the committee that the weekly food waste collection has also been a commitment of the local Labor manifesto – and in the party’s business plan for the council.

At Hove Town Hall on Tuesday, the committee was told that the proposed changes could significantly improve recycling rates in Brighton and Hove, which were among the worst in the country.

Official statistics show that only a few dozen out of over 300 municipalities have worse recycling rates.

The report to elected officials indicated that the figures are even more worrying for areas with common trash cans than for areas with curbside collection.

But even the higher recycling rate that could be achieved with weekly food waste collections would still be below the current national average.

Union adviser Gary Wilkinson, who represents the Central Hove district

Conservative adviser Robert Nemeth said the shift from weekly to bi-monthly collections was “contentious.”

He said: “Residents could see piles of trash on their doorsteps for long periods of time, especially if a pickup was missed – so a month between pickups.

“When there are missed collections, industrial actions, garbage around common bins, illegal landfills, garden bins still not collected or people not even participating in the collection of food waste, I don’t think that Brighton and Hove at present could run a bi-monthly service. This is not something we would be against in principle. We certainly wouldn’t criticize other areas for having it.

“But we don’t think it could work at Brighton and Hove until there is just a little more discipline.

“Missed collections would mean bins not emptied for a month if the collection was not caught.

“The cost of a weekly garbage collection is a concern … but it has to be weighed against the cost of cleaning up the mess of missed collections that is not shown. So we would like to see the weekly collections kept and a (weekly) catering service introduced. ”

Cllr Wilkinson welcomed the prospect of weekly food drives and called for a full feasibility study and business case to explore the weekly and bi-weekly ‘residual waste collection’ alongside the weekly food waste rounds.

He said: “I am also happy that the Conservatives, despite being late at the table, have joined us on this issue.

“Food waste represents an unreasonable proportion of general household waste.

“And as a board, we need to provide a service that ensures that waste is collected separately for composting and other positive renewable means rather than allowing it to contribute to the climate crisis we are facing.

“We welcome a feasibility study and a consultation on this matter. However, we want to make sure that the council undertakes meaningful consultation and listens to what residents have to say, especially regarding frequency of collection.

“As a counselor, one of the most common issues in my residents mailbag is the missed garbage collection.

“I therefore have reservations about reducing household waste collection to one, which would take place every two weeks rather than once a week.

He said the weekly and bimonthly “residual waste pickups” had merit alongside the weekly food waste tours, and wanted to learn more about both options.

Green Councilor Amy Heley, who chairs the committee, supported Cllr Wilkinson’s call for a report on the two options and this should be prepared in the coming months.