Wheelie Bins Enquiry

Overview

Please be advised that the deadline to submit requests for larger/smaller recycling bins or a larger refuse bin in Brandwood and Harborne wards has now passed. Residents who have not met the deadline will receive a standard size refuse bin 180 litre and a standard size recycling bin 240 litre (with inner pod for paper).

Wheelie bins are coming to Birmingham homes over the next two years. The Council has committed to carry out a pilot in the Brandwood and Harborne wards. This will be fully evaluated, together with the results from the public consultation, before determining the timing and nature of a full roll-out programme across the City. Detail of this roll-out programme will not be determined until the Autumn and full details will be published as soon as the programme is confirmed.

There will be two bins for every household, for rubbish disposal and recycling – thanks to a successful council bid that secured almost £30 million from the Government for the scheme. This money will help the city secure weekly refuse collections.

82% of local authorities in the country already use wheelie bins.

Some of the benefits are :

Prevents bin bags being torn and spilling contents onto the streets
Will help improve recycling – as the new bins have more capacity.
Wheelie Bins will help us reduce the cost of waste disposal

Green waste collections

In line with many other local authorities, the council will introduce a chargeable service from February 2014. This will be an optional service, and those wishing to take advantage will be provided with a 240-litre wheeled bin. The annual collection charge, to be paid in advance, will be £35. Those not wishing to take up the service will have the option of buying a composter, at cost, via the council’s website.

Updates for Brandwood and Harborne pilot wards - 12th June 2013

Collections of old dustbins and recycling boxes

In each of the pilot wards a 'one off' collection of old dustbins and blue/green recycling boxes has been arranged.

The dates are:

Brandwood ward - Saturday 22nd June 2013
Harborne ward - Saturday 6th July 2013

Residents can choose to keep the boxes or old bins for other uses if they wish, or take them to the local Household Recycling Centre. Any residents wishing to take advantage of the collection should leave them out at the front of their property before 6.00am on the day of collection. Note* All of the old boxes and bins will be recycled.

Harborne Ward

Residents in Harborne ward who received green cards will receive a final information card this week (w/c 10th June), advising of the following:

When the wheelie bins will be delivered
The first day of collection for rubbish, garden waste and recycling
Where your wheelie bin must be placed on collection day (with the exception of assisted collections)

*Please note: There will be a number of collection day and cycle changes for properties in Harborne ward. This may mean that not only does the day of collection change, the week that you put out your recycling/garden waste may change too. Please make sure you check your card carefully.

To minimise the potential for confusion, all cards delivered will contain a mini-calendar notifying you of the date on which recycling/garden waste should be put out for collection.

When the wheelie bins are delivered, they will be marked with the collection day and property number. There will also be a leaflet delivered with the wheelie bins explaining how they should be stored, used, and put out for collection.

Unless you have been told otherwise, you are required to place your wheelie bins out for collection on the pavement at the edge of your property, with the handles facing towards the road (this helps the collection crews). Please do not leave bins in the middle of the pavement or anywhere they can cause an obstruction to pedestrians and wheelchair users.

Please ensure you read the 'important information about your new wheelie bins' booklet that comes with your bins. The booklet contains everything you need to know about how to use them; what you can and can't put in them; important safety advice and other useful questions and answers. For a copy of the booklet see 'important information about your wheelie bin' attached below.

If you leave your wheelie bins out on the wrong day of collection we may not be able to empty until the next scheduled collection day. Bins placed out on the wrong day cannot be reported as a missed collection.

There will be a final collection of refuse bags and recyclables (green box/blue box) and green garden waste week commencing the 17th June.

The following week (w/c 24th June), will be the first collection week of your wheelie bin.

Brandwood Ward

Wheelie Bins have now been delivered to all properties that received green postcards. The first collections commenced w/c 3rd June and feedback received so far suggests that the rollout in Brandwood has been extremely successful.

If you received a green card and have not received delivery of your bins please use the wheelie bin enquiry form above to let us know.

Please see table below for important dates:

Key Dates:	Harborne Ward
Cards delivered advising of collection day/dates	w/c 10th June
Final collection before wheelie bin delivery	w/c 17th June (triple collection refuse, recycling and garden waste)
Wheelie bins delivered	w/c 17th June
Wheelie bin collections start	w/c 24th June

Essential Information

The Cabinet Member for a Green, Safe and Smart City, Councillor James McKay, has produced a short video explaining the proposed introduction of Wheelie Bins.

Frequently Asked Questions

- It will be essential to ensure that households receive an appropriate sized container for their needs. It is recognised that some households, for example larger households, would need larger containers.. The standard service offered will be a 180 litre bin for rubbish collection, collected weekly; and a 240 litre bin for the recycling with a separate insert pod to collect the paper and card.
- Up to 3 bins – one for waste, one for recycling and one for green waste (if required). We will be testing how the bins will be used in selected areas of the City. Adjustments may need to be made for individual property types and roads.
- We appreciate that not all properties are suitable for a wheelie bin collection service. Following the models from other councils, these include some properties that:
  - Have a steep slope / many steps between the house and the street where it would be difficult to move a wheelie bin up or down
  - Have no access or very limited access to the rear of the property, such as in some types of terraced housing
  - Have no ground floor access, such as flats above shops and some maisonettes.
  - Poor access for collection vehicles
  In these circumstances, other Councils make alternative arrangements such as retaining the collection system that was previously used.
- An assisted service is available for people who are elderly and infirm or those with a physical disability. We cannot enter your property but can arrange to pick items up from immediately outside the property e.g. front door or side door if accessible.
- Whilst we appreciate your view that the current black sack system works perfectly well, independent research has shown that where a wheelie bin system has been introduced, recycling rates have increased.
  
  Birmingham needs to reduce the amount of waste that we produce and to reuse and recycle more. Furthermore the current system causes litter due to bags being ripped open by rodents, other animals and birds with the contents strewn about the street.
- The bid to the DCLG (Department for Communities and Local Government) outlined a 2 to 3 year timetable for the full procurement and roll-out of the bins. We intend to implement a pilot in May / June 2013 into Brandwood and Harborne Wards.
- It is possible that collection days may change when wheelie bins are rolled out, however it is not possible at this stage to give an indication of what those changes could be.
  
  All changes to days would be kept to a minimum.
- Each area will be looked at individually to see whether it will be suitable for wheelie bins. The improvements to waste collection are expected to improve the tidiness of the streets in Birmingham and reduce the amount of litter which is currently attributable to the existing bagged residual and box recycling collections.
- We will ensure that there is community involvement and engagement and will harness views through a wide range of organisations and forums including an on-line survey for all residents and consultation through District Committees.
- The experience of other Local Authorities who have implemented this type of collection methodology is that residents place bagged waste into the wheelie bins, and therefore there is minimal ongoing need to clean. If cleaning is required then it is the resident’s responsibility to undertake this.
- In the future it may also be possible to co-collect food waste with garden waste and the 3 bin proposed solution would support this method of collection.
  
  This is not part of the funding received as part of the DCLG (Department for Communities and Local Government) bid. A separate consultation with residents would be undertaken if this option was considered further.
- All the wheelie bins and pods that will be used in the 2 pilot wards are being manufactured in the UK.