Bristol City Council could become the first local authority in England to collect black bin household waste every four weeks.
The council said it “firmly” believes that collecting black bin waste every three or four weeks instead of once a fortnight “will increase the amount of waste our city recycles, reduce costs and significantly lower carbon emissions”.
The Guardian reported that if it does move to four-weekly collections, the council will be the first in England to do so.
Bristol’s Green-led council launched a six-week consultation on managing household waste on Monday.
Explaining the consultation on its website, Councillor Martin Fodor, chair of the council’s environment and sustainability committee, said changing to less frequent collections could cut the amount of waste going to landfill or being burned by “between 7,000 and 10,000 tonnes”.
He referenced the examples of Salford and Rhondda Cynon Taf as evidence. Black bin waste is collected every three weeks in both areas.
Bristol is home to about 483,000 people living in more than 191,000 households, with each person creating up to 400kg (882 lbs) of household waste a year.
For the past two years, the city has recycled about 45% of its household waste, which puts it “amongst the top tier of cities in the UK”, but the rate is dropping, and the national target is to recycle 65% by 2035.
Councillor Fodor said the current methods of dealing with black bin waste – incineration or landfill – have “serious environmental and cost issues”.
New charges on disposing of black bin waste by those methods will cost the city a further £8m a year, meaning, he said, it will “very soon start to cost every household a lot more unless we do something about it”.
“Burning or leaving waste to decompose in landfill releases carbon and other harmful substances into the atmosphere. This in turn pollutes the air around us and also contributes to fuelling climate change,” he added.
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Other possible ideas raised in the consultation included increasing the use of recycling sacks and the council said it must also invest in its services, particularly in collection vehicles.
Sky News has contacted Bristol City Council for comment.
