Waste bin collections every three weeks considered

Cutting waste bin collections to once every three weeks is being considered by a council.

The idea is being looked at by South Norfolk District Council as a way to help reduce costs, with a meeting told collecting general waste less frequently could help increase recycling rates.

However, some councillors were sceptical, suggesting it could result in a build-up of unpleasant waste, including used nappies.

A meeting of the scrutiny committee was told the council's cabinet would discuss the idea in more detail at a later date.

Currently, general waste bins are collected every fortnight.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the proposal to make changes emerged in discussions about the implementation of weekly food waste collections, which will be introduced next year.

The government is requiring councils to bring in the service and Conservative-run South Norfolk recently started buying the necessary vehicles and containers.

It is planning to start phased collections from the deadline of April next year but said it would not be able to procure enough vehicles for a full district rollout immediately.

The changes to waste collections has led to the authority looking at other aspects of the service, with officials asked to consider how reducing the frequency of non-recyclable waste collections could help to increase recycling rates and cut costs.

Labour councillor Deborah Sacks said changing to collections of general waste every three weeks would be "a big step" and wanted to know more about how much they would save.

Conservative Kathryn Cross warned making such a change would be "complicated".

"Added to the fact that you have waste like nappies and things, which, building up over three weeks is not going to be very nice," she said.

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