‘We need to make Bristol’s waste and recycling service better’

This article by Green Councillor and Chair of the Environment and Sustainability Committee Martin Fodor was originally published on Bristol 24/7 on February 11th 2025. 

I’ve been working on climate and waste issues since my teens when I was promoting recycling in Milton Keynes in the 1980s.

Since May last year, I have used this experience to chair the environment & sustainability committee, which is responsible for Bristol’s waste and recycling collection strategy.

I have already stated my ambition that I want a recycling service that Bristol can be proud of.

Talking to people in my ward and across the city, I know residents want to reduce their environmental impact, and how we deal with our waste is a big part of that.

Contrary to rumours from elsewhere, Bristol doesn’t ship our recycling overseas to be burnt or dumped.

Most of our recycling is instead processed and sold in the UK to be reused, helping the economy and environment.

We sell tonnes of metal, card, glass, paper and plastic and it goes to processors around this country.

And the more we recycle, the more income we have to pay for better recycling services, street cleaning and repair and reuse services.

Everyone has an opinion about bin collections, with Bristol City Council’s consultation likely to be one with a very large number of respondents – photo: Martin Booth

We know that people are fed up with pointless packaging and materials, and they want to see them be recycled.

We know residents want us to address the mountains of cardboard that have become a staple of bin day.

We know nappies, smelly food waste and sanitary or hygiene products are an issue too.

We recognise that larger households can struggle with less frequent collections and not enough recycling space, and we know that residents in flats often struggle with a lack of space for their waste.

We know that we can do better.

That is why Bristol City Council has launched a consultation on how we can improve recycling and waste collections across the city.

We want to hear your thoughts on what you want the council to prioritise and how.

The government has set an ambitious target of 65 per cent of waste recycled by 2035 as part of their net zero goals and are raising taxes on landfill and incineration to ensure this.

Bristol Waste staff are a familiar sight across the city – photo: Bristol Waste

As Greens, we want to see a sustainable future for our city too. But we recognise that our service must change to meet this vital challenge and bear the extra regulatory costs we face.

As part of this, we are looking into bigger and better recycling containers and bags which don’t spill or break, as well as starting to collect soft plastics to be recycled.

Bristol Waste surveys have shown that still 40 per cent of Bristol’s black bin waste is recyclable, and the move from weekly to fortnightly collections has been one of the few measures to significantly increase recycling rates in the last two decades.

Part of the consultation therefore considers whether we take the same approach as our neighbouring councils in South Gloucestershire and North Somerset – and a growing number of other authorities – and reduce the frequency of black bin collections.

Bin collections that are currently fortnightly could become less frequent; but first, we want to hear from you.

Once we have as many thoughts and ideas as we can get, we will start considering how we want the service to change.

I want to reassure people that contrary to some misleading claims, nothing has been decided, but that’s not to say we aren’t looking at making our service better and looking for new ways to support repair and reuse.

Soft plastic recycling will be coming soon, and we will be bringing in simpler and bigger storage containers or bags for recycling, no matter what.

This will mean you’ll have more space for your waste throughout the week.

Our city recycling has decreased over the last few years so we have some way to go to hit government targets, but I am confident we can improve on this together.

Martin Fodor has been a councillor for Redland for over a decade – photo: Green Party

This is an opinion piece by Martin Fodor, Green Party councillor for Redland and chair of the environment & sustainability policy committee at Bristol City Council