Only one in six councils take rubbish away every week

FEWER households than ever are having their bins collected every week, with only one in six local authorities now delivering this level of service.

The vast majority of homes have their rubbish taken away every fortnight, but 15 areas wait three weeks and two – Falkirk in Scotland and Conwy in north Wales – have a collection every four weeks.

Data from the Waste and Resources Action Programme showed that 11million households across England, Scotland and Wales had some form of weekly bin round for residual waste – rubbish that cannot be recycled – in 2012. That has since dropped to around 7.4million.

Councils claim the move to less frequent collections has boosted recycling rates and saved them money.

But opponents say fly-tipping has increased and that residents are forced to get rid of waste themselves at local tips or take drastic measures such as burning rubbish in their gardens.

In England the amount of rubbish recycled has remained at 43-44 per cent since 2011. Provisional figures for Wales show a 61 per cent recycling rate in the year to September 2018.