Wheelie Bins Enquiry

Overview

If you live in the Brandwood or Harborne collection areas, please click on the blue button above to let us know if you need a larger or smaller wheelie bin, or require an assisted collection service.

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.

Consultation

A citywide consultation on wheelie bins has already begun to find out residents’ views on how the proposed system can work for all Birmingham’s households.

If you haven’t already had your say, get involved. Fill in the survey online at:

www.opinionresearch.co.uk/Birminghamwheeliebins

Pilot Information for Brandwood and Harborne Wards

A number of Wheelie Bin Roadshows will be taking place over the next few weeks. The roadshows will be a chance to inform residents in pilot wards about new ways of collecting rubbish and recycling. It will also give residents the opportunity to see the wheelie bins and ask any questions.

Please see the below attachments for more information.

By now all properties that will be included in the Brandwood and Harborne ward pilots will have received either a green, or red card telling them whether or not their property is suitable to start receiving a wheelie bin collection.

Residents in Brandwood and Harborne wards who received green cards will get a final information card during week commencing the 20th May (Brandwood) and week commencing 10th June (Harborne), 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: For the vast majority of Brandwood who received green cards there will be no change to the current collection day or collection pattern.

Residents in Brandwood and Harborne wards who received red cards will get a final information card during week commencing the 20th May (Brandwood) and week commencing 10th June (Harborne) advising of the following:

the type of collection service they will be receving in future
any changes to collection days for rubbish, garden waste and recycling

*Please note: There will be a number of collection day and pattern changes for red card properties.

Please see table below for important dates:

Key Dates:	Brandwood	Harborne
Cards delivered advising of collection day/dates	w/c 20th May	w/c 10th June
Final collection before wheelie bin delivery	w/c 27th May	w/c 17th June (triple collection refuse, recycling and garden waste)
Wheelie bins delivered	w/c 27th May	w/c 17th June
Wheelie bin collections start	w/c 3rd June	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.