Uniform national rules on bin collections and recycling should be created before any more stringent targets are imposed, critics said today.

Across the Black Country and Staffordshire residents get different — sometimes conflicting — rules on what they can and cannot put in certain bins, based on where they live.

Now council waste chiefs want the government to introduce rules that mean every area uses the same system. In Wolverhampton people were recently asked to start recycling their food slops in special bins, bringing the total number of council-provided bins to six.

But in Dudley, the council still collects waste in black bags and does not recycle food. In Cannock, food can be put in with garden rubbish but Walsall Council warns garden bins will not be collected if there is food waste in them.

Cannock Chase Council will not collect food waste in compostable bags while Wolverhampton has supplied every home with two rolls of bags specifically for that purpose.

Wolverhampton collects bins weekly but in neighbouring South Staffordshire, the district council went for fortnightly collections a number of years ago.

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