Collecting black bins in South Gloucestershire every three weeks will drive up recycling rates according to council bosses.
South Gloucestershire Council has signed off a new contract with the waste firm Suez, for the next eight and potentially 16 years. The contract includes collecting black bins every three weeks instead of fortnightly, beginning 2026, as well as being able to recycle soft plastics.
Latest figures show that 57% of waste thrown away by residents in the district is recycled, a rate which has recently dropped. The cabinet approved the new contract and heard that the three-weekly collections could increase recycling.
Labour Councillor Sean Rhodes, cabinet member for communities, said: “By moving to three-weekly and by bringing in changes to our plastic recycling, we’re confident that we’ll move recycling rates up.
“At the moment the analysis that we’ve done of waste in our black bins shows that 12.5% is made up of food waste, 23% is recyclable, and 27.7% is flexible plastics. That means that currently, only 36% of the bin volume is taken by non-recyclable waste.
“So by changing how we collect soft plastics, we’re confident that’s going to change our recycling rates.”
By Alex Seabrook, Local Democracy Reporter