Greater Manchester borough where weekly green bin collections could soon be scrapped

Weekly green bin collections in Stockport could be scrapped as part of the council’s plan to save money. The local authority is planning to make the collections fortnightly which is expected to save around £600,000 as part of a waste review.

A report about the change stated that it is “not expected to impact the recycling levels as there was no significant impact when the collections were changed during Covid.”

Other changes include increasing the charges of replacement bins from £20 to £25, and changing bulky collection charges to cover the costs incurred by the council. Stockport Labour Group leader Councillor David Meller said he is concerned about the impact it could have on recycling.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “Stockport has an excellent record of recycling, and we are concerned that the proposed reduction in green waste collection will have a negative impact. The Lib Dem Leader of the council recently announced that with regards to future cuts, ‘nothing is ruled out’.”

“Stockport Labour is concerned that that general waste will be next, with either smaller bins or three weekly collections. We all know the Conservative government is not providing sufficient funding for local government to provide the services the public rightfully expect.”

If approved, the fortnightly green bin collections could help Stockport council save money by reducing the number of vehicles and crew needed to collect waste. It would also save diesel as fewer miles are travelled by council collection vehicles.

Councillor Gary Lawson, leader of Stockport Green Party, said: “We don’t like making cuts but we know we have to at the moment. It probably will lead to some people dumping their waste. The only good thing to be said for it, is that it may encourage more people to compost their garden waste which is better than a big vehicle going round to take all the waste to one site.

“The three green councillors will be looking at the budget as a whole and how we vote. It’s possible that the votes of our small group will be very important because the council is under no overall control.”

The plan comes after council leader Mark Hunter recently told the LDRS that “nothing’s been ruled out” when it comes to service cuts as the local authority looks to balance the books. According to a council report, Stockport needs to make more than £40 million in savings by 2027/28.

Coun Mark Roberts, deputy leader and cabinet member for climate change and environment at Stockport council, said: “The Conservative government have made it clear that they are pushing councils towards charging for green waste. Unlike some of our Labour-led neighbouring councils, we have done everything we can to avoid that. The change to the service we are proposing has gone out to public consultation and it was our residents’ preferred option.

“This year’s budget proposals have had more cross-party scrutiny than ever before, going to three rounds of pre-decision scrutiny but with no alternatives put forward by opposition groups. The squeeze on local government and the services people want is clear for all to see across the country.

“Labour locally are also clearly content to concrete over our treasured green space. The Liberal Democrats are not and we will fight hard to protect this, one of the key things that makes this borough such a great place to live.”