Bristol Waste's Poor Service Spotlighted by Lib Dem Councillors
Liberal Democrat Councillors highlighted the repeated issues with Bristol Waste's service that have frustrated residents for months at yesterday’s Member Forum on Bristol City Council. The alternative timetable over the Christmas period saw missed collections spike, with Councillor’s inboxes flooded with reports of even more missed collections.
Cllr Jos Clark (Lib Dem, Brislington West) submitted the following statement to the Council meeting:
"I am sure that every Councillor in Bristol has, over the Christmas period, had numerous emails from their residents complaining about their bin collections. This situation is unacceptable, and residents deserve a decent and reliable level of service from Bristol Waste. For many, this is the only regular interaction they have with the council. The contract that we, as a council, and the taxpayer have entered into is that we put our rubbish out each week and it gets taken away, but unfortunately over the past few months that trust has broken down. Residents who live at the end of the pick-up round have not had their bins emptied for weeks and weeks, quite literally.
"Unfortunately, we have gone through three separate periods of poor collection rates, and this cannot happen a fourth time. Whatever the underlying issue is, it must be resolved quickly. The consequence is that residents lose trust in the Council and Bristol Waste, recycling rates drop, we get an increase in fly-tipping, and our city looks untidy and a mess.
"As a local Councillor, I feel that it is almost impossible to defend the indefensible or make excuses for the poor service that we are all getting. I wish to call on the Policy Chair responsible to sort this out and ensure that our bins are emptied each week, every week.”
Speaking to her statement, Cllr Clark said “As a resident, I put my bins out in hope rather than expectation”. Bristol Liberal Democrats are calling out the shameful situation for what it is and holding the Green Party leaders to account.
Further piling on the pressure, Cllr Nicholas Coombes (Liberal Democrat, Westbury-on-Trym and Henleaze) put the following question to the Chair of the Environment and Sustainability Committee, the Green Party Councillor responsible for the City's waste services:
"Westbury and Henleaze ward continues to suffer missed waste collections, with residents on dozens of streets reporting missed bin or recycling collections over the Christmas period. Several streets have even been missed for two consecutive weeks. What is being done to increase capacity so that the service is more resilient to staff sickness and vehicle breakdowns, and how can the omission of streets on two consecutive weeks be avoided?”
Cllr Coombes received the following answer from the portfolio holder:
"Since July, 2024 Bristol Waste has introduced four recycling rounds to build capacity back into service delivery. Subsequently in October 2024T, Bristol Waste introduced a pro-active evening collection.
"As a result, there was improvements to operational performance, however there remained challenges in the north of city. Bristol Waste has worked closely with the council to progress a planning variation for the recycling bulking station in January 2025. This will increase processing capacity and improve the efficiency of the service.
"Also, the council client team and Bristol Waste are expediting the opening of the bulking facility at Avonmouth, this will lead to a significant improvement in the recycling service in the north of city as transport distances will be reduced between doorstep and depot. This will also improve the recycling service reliability for the rest of the city.”
When residents experience a missed collection, they are advised to report it via an online council form. Too often, completion of the form results in no response and no remedy to their uncollected bins. On this, Cllr Coombes asked:
"Reports of missed collections made through the Council portal do not seem to be actioned. How are missed collections reported through the council website dealt with, and how can this process be made more effective?”
The Committee Chair provided the following written response:
"Bristol Waste are expected to collect missed collections with 24 hours of a report. Performance is closely monitored. Work is ongoing to improve the web reporting portal.”
Bristol Liberal Democrats will continue to amplify residents' frustrations with Bristol Waste and push for much-needed service improvements on the City Council.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- Member Forum is a public meeting preceding Full Council and an opportunity for Councillors to ask questions of Policy Committee Chairs. Papers from Member Forum on 14th January can be found here: ModernGov - bristol.gov.uk