Working hard to collect waste in 2025

They have also collected around 245 tonnes daily from our household recycling centres.

In all over the past year, 321,121 tonnes of household waste was collected in 2025, five per cent more than the previous year.

The mobile waste centres were out 198 times across 26 wards.

Despite the ongoing industrial action, missed collections are down by 52% compared to before the strikes – a big step forward.

There has also been a 22% improvement on tonnage collected per employee compared to before the strikes.

Over the Christmas period we had additional clean-up crews from our three depots targeting fly-tipping hotspots.

Since 1 April last year we have seized 23 vehicles for fly-tipping and issued 462 fixed penalty notices of £1,000 each for fly-tipping offences.

Cllr Majid Mahmood, cabinet member for environment and transport, said: “This just shows what we can do using more efficient routes and technology and this will continue to improve as we roll out the new service.

“We have done all we can to support residents during the industrial action, including extending opening hours of our household recycling centres over the summer and Christmas as well as extra deployment of the mobile waste centres.

“I know residents are frustrated and I'm sorry for the inconvenience and appreciate their patience. I’m really grateful for the many volunteers and community groups who are supporting us and helping their fellow residents during this challenging time.”

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Notes to editors – FAQs on the industrial action

Why is the strike continuing, why not go back to negotiations?

Whilst we remain committed to reaching a negotiated settlement, Unite has rejected our fair and reasonable offers.

We have also invited Unite on multiple occasions to make a proposal to end the strike, which we would fully and carefully consider, but they have declined to do so thus far. Our doors remain open for Unite to put forward constructive suggestions to resolve this dispute, and we want those taking strike action to return to work so we can continue delivering the waste services that the people of Birmingham expect and deserve.

What is happening with the new service?

On 9 December cabinet approved the rollout of the new waste service from June 2026. The transformed service will include the weekly food waste collection and a second recycling bin, with recycling rates expected to exceed 30 per cent initially.

Historically the service has not been good enough, with a high level of missed collections and one of the lowest recycling rates in the country. This must change.

While the ongoing industrial action has delayed the implementation of the new service, the intention is to begin the rollout in June 2026 regardless of the strike situation.

How can you roll out the new food waste collections if the industrial action continues?

Should the present industrial action persist, the council will explore alternative mechanisms for delivery of the new food waste service.

What has happened to the WRCO role?

The former WRCO role which came about as a result of a previous bin strike, was withdrawn on 2 January 2025, following extensive consultation with the employees concerned and their representatives. No other council has this role, and if the council had conceded to retain it, then we would have risked creating future equal pay liability.

All of the 170 former WRCOs were successfully redeployed or elected to take VR.

What is the position with the driver role?

The role of Driver/Team Leader (GR4) has been withdrawn following an extensive period of consultation with the unions. This was a consequence of a Service Redesign wherein the Team Leader responsibilities were removed from the Driver role and transferred to the Assistant Service Managers (ASM). This is considered as a key enabler in ensuring that Drivers were able to focus on their core operational responsibilities.

The new role of Driver has been evaluated as a GR3. Existing Driver Team Leaders were given the opportunity to accept the new Driver role as alternative employment or taking Voluntary Redundancy.

It’s important to stress that roles are evaluated using the nationally recognised Gauge Job Evaluation methodology - as agreed with our trade unions.

Of the 144 DTLs, the majority have agreed accept the new role with the standard 6 months’ pay protection, with others taking voluntary redundancy or other alternative roles within the service.

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