Today marks six months since Birmingham’s bins strike went all-out – and recycling collections remain suspended
Cllr Majid Mahmood, cabinet member for transport and environment(Image: Martin O’Callaghan/Birmingham Live)
Birmingham’s recycling rates have continued to cause concern during a week which marked six months since the all-out bins strike commenced.
Recycling collections were suspended early on during the industrial action, which was triggered by a dispute between the city council and Unite the union.
Due to the knock-on impact of the strike, new data has now shown that just 15.45 per cent of rubbish in the city was being recycled during the first quarter of 2025-26.
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It had plummeted to 16 per cent during the previous quarter, a period which covered the early months of the bins strike.
The Labour-run council has said that the large majority of recycling which continues to be achieved is from residents driving to their local tips.
“This will therefore only improve meaningfully when we are able to reintroduce household recycling collections,” it said in a recent report.
The details emerged shortly after Unite pledged to fight on and continue industrial action, potentially through Christmas and up to March next year.
During a cabinet meeting this week, Liberal Democrat group leader Roger Harmer described the levels of recycling in the city as “appalling”.
Lib Dems leader Roger Harmer
“Clearly we are going to continue to be at that poor state until the strike is over but there are things that can be done to mitigate this issue,” he said.
“We hear repeated complaints from residents of recycling bins being full at the tips – surely we can arrange for them to be emptied more often?”
Majid Mahmood, the Labour cabinet member for environment, responded by saying the new figures “weren’t surprising” due to recycling collections being suspended during the strike.
“It also shows the ineffectiveness of the current recycling service before the industrial action,” he said.
“This is something we have known for years – the simple fact is we’re not where we need to be on recycling.
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“That’s why we want to implement our transformation programme, which will lead to increased recycling and help us fulfill our obligations under the Environment Act 2021.”
The transformation of the waste service has been described as a key part of the crisis-hit council’s recovery plan and will see collections of household rubbish move from weekly to fortnightly.
Weekly food waste collections and a second recycling bin specifically for recycling paper and cardboard were also set to be introduced in phases across the city from April onwards.
But these changes were delayed due to the impact of the bins strike.
“I’m sure upon implementation, we will have the best recycling rate in the region,” Coun Mahmood said this week.
A file photo of bin lorries in Birmingham in 2025(Image: Guy Smallman/Getty Images)
He continued that in readiness for the waste service’s transformation, the council has one million containers in stock awaiting delivery and has commissioned 151 new vehicles.
“[The] ICT platform is going to be deployed in the next six weeks and we have established over 1,100 new routes,” Coun Mahmood added.
Addressing Coun Harmer’s comments, he said: “We have had conversations with our disposal partners to ensure there’s adequate capacity at the recycling centres.
“We have requested daily reports of the capacity which is now being agreed […] to ensure it meets residents’ demands going forwards.”
The bins strike, which went all-out back on March 11, was sparked by the loss of the Waste Recycling and Collection Officer (WRCO) role.
Striking workers have raised concerns about pay while the Labour-run council’s leadership has repeatedly insisted a “fair and reasonable” offer had been made.