Households face no bin collections for a month

BIRMINGHAM residents could be left with a moth’s worth of recycling over the festive period.

Birmingham City Council has confirmed its waste collection dates, and thousands could be left with mounting rubbish over the Christmas holidays.

The authority’s binmen work on bank holidays during the year, but do not run a refuse collection service on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or any bank holidays added if either of those two days fall on a weekend.

This year, that means there will be no collections of household rubbish or recycling on Monday, December 26, and Tuesday, December 27. Anyone with usual collections on those days will have their household bins picked up a week later.

But the fortnightly nature of Birmingham’s recycling collections means residents will have four weeks’ worth of waste piled up by the time it is picked up.

All other collections remain unchanged, including those on Bank Holiday Monday, January 2, 2017. The city council says there will be some flexibility in the arrangements.

“It is recognised during the festive period that many households produce more waste,” said a City Council spokesman. “Excess paper and card recycling will be collected if bundled securely with string and presented alongside the recycling bin.”

The city’s five household recycling centres will be shut on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Meanwhile, Birmingham households are throwing out a mountain of food. A survey has found almost half of the waste placed in bins was unwanted or uneaten food, leading to calls for people to be more careful about the food they buy.