Council to end weekly black bin collections
Opposition hits out at ‘broken promise’ as move is confirmed for next month
Weekly black bin collections are set to be axed in Windsor and Maidenhead next month.
From October 18 residents will see their general waste collected fortnightly with food waste and recycling picked up once a week.
The council said the move is ‘not about saving money’ and forms part of the local authority’s commitment to tackle the climate emergency which it declared in June 2019.
The switch is expected to save the borough £175,000 a year.
Collections will be carried out over five days, Monday to Friday, which will see 71 per cent of residents impacted by a change in their black bin collection day.
Councillor David Coppinger, cabinet member for environmental services, said: “This change will help everybody in the borough play their part, albeit in a small way, in saving the planet.”
Serco, the company responsible for waste management in the borough, faced criticism in August last year after it reverted from fortnightly to weekly black bin collections following a temporary change in service during the first COVID-19 lockdown.
Residents complained of missed collections but Cllr Coppinger said the council has been working alongside its contractor to ensure the service does not suffer a similar fate when it switches again next month.
The council said its recycling rate currently stands at 50 per cent but this needs to increase to 65 per cent by 2035 to help it reach its goal of netzero carbon emissions by 2050.
Cllr Coppinger added: “Recycling as much as we can is an easy way we can all make a difference.
“I am confident this new initiative will improve our recycling rates further and reduce the amount of general waste.”
Leader of the opposition, Councillor Simon Werner (Lib Dems, Pinkneys Green) told the Advertiser the switch to fortnightly black bin collections represented a broken manifesto pledge from the Conservatives 2019 local election campaign.
He said: “The Conservatives went to the election on the basis they weren’t going to introduce fortnightly collection and they’ve gone back on that which is quite dishonest really.
“It’s disappointing that they’re breaking a promise and they must have known they were going to do it two years ago.”
He also claimed the £175,000 of savings were due to be made by increasing recycling rates, not by paying contractors Serco less.
The council confirmed this was the case.
Blocks of flats where communal bins are used will still receive weekly black bin collections as well as roads where more than half of properties have a collection from sacks.
Residents will be informed about changes to their collections via leaflets which will be delivered by October 8.
Households of six people or more will also be able to request larger bins from the council.
Visit www.rbwm.gov.uk/recycling-and-rubbish for more details.