{"id":121741,"date":"2025-05-22T05:41:15","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T05:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/121741\/"},"modified":"2025-05-22T05:41:15","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T05:41:15","slug":"bin-collections-in-bristol-are-improving-after-chaotic-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/121741\/","title":{"rendered":"Bin collections in Bristol are ‘improving’ after chaotic year"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thousands of streets had overflowing bins during the worst of the disruption\"NoBlack bins in Bristol (file image)(Image: \u00a9 SWNS)<\/p>\n

After a year of disruption and missed collections<\/a>, Bristol\u2019s waste and recycling services appear to be back on track thanks to a series of operational overhauls and strategic investments.<\/p>\n

A report prepared ahead of a Bristol City Council<\/a> meeting next week outlined how the city has recovered from a chaotic period following the restructuring of recycling routes in October 2023. The changes, introduced by Bristol Waste Company (BWC), aimed to save \u00a3250,000 by removing two recycling rounds.<\/p>\n

However, the move backfired. \u201cThis service change had a significant negative impact on the refuse and recycling service with a large increase in the number of dropped roads and missed collections,\u201d the report by the Environment and Sustainability Policy Committee stated.<\/p>\n

By December 2024, nearly 4,500 roads were going uncollected each week\u2014the worst performance in the service\u2019s history. Subsequent measures to stabilise the service, including an evening collection round, saw partial success but were hampered by Christmas illness outbreaks, operational issues at depots, and the seasonal surge in recycling volumes.<\/p>\n

The turning point came in January 2025, when the council made the decision to suspend recycling collections on Friday, January 9. This \u201creset\u201d enabled BWC to clear backlogs.<\/p>\n

According to the report: \u201cThis proved very successful and led to an immediate reduction in the number of dropped roads by the recycling service.\u201d By March and April 2025, dropped road averages had fallen to 712 for refuse and just 228 for recycling\u2014a dramatic reduction of 77% and 85% respectively.<\/p>\n

BWC\u2019s improvements stem from a multi-pronged approach. Key actions included appointing new senior management, redesigning collection routes and improving the productivity of transfer stations. Notably, planning permission has been extended to allow for 24-hour waste processing to mitigate future downtime.<\/p>\n

Infrastructure improvements are also under way. A new bulking facility at Avonmouth<\/a> is nearing completion, which is expected to \u201creduce downtime of collection fleets and improve resilience for northern wards.\u201d Meanwhile, the older Albert Road Depot is undergoing a deep service upgrade to minimise breakdowns.<\/p>\n

Long-term plans include replacing the ageing vehicle fleet by 2027\u201328 and reviewing narrow access routes\u2014frequent culprits behind dropped collections. The council is also exploring Traffic Regulation Orders to ease vehicle access to problematic streets.<\/p>\n

Despite recent improvements, the report cautions that risks remain. Vehicle availability, excessive cardboard volumes and narrow streets continue to pose challenges. It states: \u201cWhilst the service is improving there remains several operational risks\u2026 that may impact on service delivery.\u201d<\/p>\n

Financially, the council is looking to reduce waste collection costs by \u00a3500,000 annually in both 2026\u201327 and 2027\u201328, though the current improvements are not yet tied to specific budget savings. A proposal to switch to collecting black bins every four weeks was dropped earlier this year after a massive backlash.<\/a><\/p>\n

For now, the city\u2019s waste services are functioning at what the report calls \u201can acceptable level\u201d. The committee has noted the report but made no formal decisions, as it was submitted for information only. Residents can expect ongoing monitoring and continued enhancements as Bristol aims to meet its long-term waste reduction goals under the 2022\u201327 Corporate Strategy.<\/p>\n

The next key milestones include finalising the Avonmouth site and deciding on the replacement fleet in the coming financial year. The report is on the agenda for discussion at a meeting of the Environment and Sustainability Policy Committee, on Thursday, May 29.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thousands of streets had overflowing bins during the worst of the disruptionBlack bins in Bristol (file image)(Image: \u00a9…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121742,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[15066,381,3893,748,393,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-121741","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-avonmouth","9":"tag-bristol","10":"tag-bristol-city-council","11":"tag-britain","12":"tag-england","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114549888368331385","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121741"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121741\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}