Birmingham City Council’s new leadership faces urgent calls to preserve weekly bin collections and initiate a comprehensive city-wide clean-up. Following last month’s elections, the council—Europe’s largest—is now governed by a coalition of Liberal Democrats, Greens, and independents.
One of the coalition’s immediate challenges is addressing the ongoing bin strike and the future of waste collection services. Initially, the council planned a phased shift from weekly to fortnightly household rubbish collections, alongside introducing weekly food waste pickups and a second recycling bin. However, these plans were postponed last year due to the strike and were initially set to proceed regardless of strike resolution.
In early June, the council announced it would maintain the current waste service pending guidance from the new administration, creating uncertainty around the service’s future.
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The Birmingham Conservative group insists that weekly bin collections remain vital for many households and must be protected. Group leader Councillor Robert Alden penned a letter to new Liberal Democrat leader Roger Harmer and Green deputy leader Julien Pritchard, urging immediate actions to restore public confidence and prioritize cleaner streets.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Coun Alden emphasized the importance of weekly collections given Birmingham’s demographic profile—larger families, densely populated areas, and many terraced houses, flats, and HMOs. “Weekly bin collections are essential to prevent waste build-up like that seen at the start of the strike, when 25,000 tonnes of rubbish piled up across the city,” he said.
Coun Alden reflected on the public sentiment encountered during the election campaign, noting residents’ desires for a fair resolution to the strike that avoids burdening the city with further debt and the urgent need to restore street cleanliness. “In the past 14 years, Birmingham has shifted from being Britain’s cleanest city to enduring prolonged bin strikes and looming fortnightly collections,” he added. “This is why saving weekly bin collections is critical.”
In his letter, Coun Alden outlined four priorities as the foundation for cleaner streets and a fresh start in Birmingham:
- Retain weekly waste collections;
- Ensure service reliability;
- Deliver consistent street cleaning;
- Adopt transparent and accountable leadership.
He called on the new coalition to demonstrate a renewed commitment to residents by safeguarding weekly collections and focusing on well-managed core services. “This is a chance for the administration to prove it listens by cleaning up the city and protecting essential services,” Alden stated. He pledged Conservative support for any changes that improve the city while holding leaders accountable for failures.
Meanwhile, Birmingham Reform—the council’s largest party, though not part of the coalition—also supports retaining weekly rubbish collection. The party criticized proposals focused on “net zero tick boxing” that complicate residents’ lives without improving efficiency.
Prior to the elections, the Liberal Democrats committed to maintaining weekly collections until the service proves reliable over a sustained period. Regarding potential fortnightly collections, Green Party deputy leader Julien Pritchard said the coalition must negotiate a consensus and prioritize service reliability.
The previous Labour council administration argued that waste transformation plans would align Birmingham with other councils, boost recycling rates, and deliver the services residents deserve.
With pressure mounting, Birmingham’s new council leaders must balance maintaining reliable bin collections with broader environmental goals—an essential step toward restoring cleanliness and confidence across the city.