Council admits to “significant service performance issues” with its waste and recycling collection service
It’s no secret that Bristolians have repeatedly been let down by the city’s waste and recycling collection service. Across the city, residents have had collections missed time and time again.
For months now, Bristol’s Liberal Democrat Councillors have been raising these unacceptable failures in service at council meetings. Following continued reports of missed collections, the group raised it yet again on Tuesday’s (11th March) meeting.
Cllr Sarah Classick, Liberal Democrat Councillor for Hengrove and Whitchurch Park, asked:
“Residents across the city continue to experience late or lacking collections of waste and recycling. Could the Chair of the Environment and Sustainability Committee please provide an update on the measures planned to improve the service, and the efficacy of those already implemented.”
Responding to the question in writing, the Chair of the Environment and Sustainability Committee acknowledged that “There were significant service performance issues relating to waste and recycling collection services during December 2024 and January 2025”.
The response also detailed a series of improvement plans and mitigating actions that have been put in place to address the issue, including a renewed focus on the monitoring of collection delivery and continued provision of an evening collection service.
Asking a supplementary question to the Environment and Sustainability Committee Chair, Cllr Classick said “I’m glad to see those actions and hopefully they do have an impact. Obviously, this is something that is really affecting our residents. Do we have a timeline or some goals for when we can expect to see real improvements to the current system and the service we’re providing?”
In response, the Policy Committee Chair committed to getting information on the expected timelines for the various improvements and sharing them with councillors.
Notes to editors:
- Papers for 11th March Member Forum: ModernGov - bristol.gov.uk
- Bristol Waste's Poor Service Spotlighted by Lib Dem Councillors - Bristol Liberal Democrats