Conservative councillors in Wolverhampton have criticised the Labour-run city authority after it admitted it has collected just 7,000 redundant bins since controversial changes to waste collections were introduced.
In a Freedom of Information request submitted by Tettenhall Regis councillor Udey Singh, the council said that since the £35-a-year garden waste collection service was rolled out in October 2018, they have collected approximately 6,800 redundant brown bins and 450 green bins.
This is despite the council claiming that more than 20,000 households have forked out the annual garden waste charge for a purple bin.
Many residents have been left frustrated with the council’s system of collecting redundant bins, with some complaining of having to wait months for it to be collected, and others reporting seeing their neighbour’s bin being collected but not theirs.
Opposition councillors have questioned why the council couldn’t have used existing bins for collecting garden waste, instead of paying hundreds of thousands of pounds for new ones. They have also raised concerns about the council’s carbon footprint, given the delivery of new purple bins and a patchy collection system which has apparently seen trucks make multiple trips to the same streets.
Responding to the information from Wolverhampton Council, Councillor Udey Singh said: “We have known that the council’s system of collecting redundant waste bins hasn’t been good enough for many months now. But these figures are shocking.
“More than 20,000 families in Wolverhampton have been forced to pay the new £35-a-year garden tax and get a purple bin, but then have to wait weeks and even months on end for the council to collect their redundant bin. This just isn’t good enough, and Conservative councillors are demanding to know why the council didn’t just use one of the existing bins for the new service, instead of wasting money on ordering brand new ones.
“The council’s cuts to bin collections and garden waste charge have caused disruption and misery to residents.”
