Birmingham council leader on promises return of recycling collections 'in the months ahead' as strike continue

The bins strike, now in its second year, left uncollected waste piling up in city streets during its height and also saw the suspension of recycling collections last February.

For more than a year, Brummies have had to either hoard their recycling, dispose of it in their household rubbish bins or make trips to the tip.

Labour-run Birmingham City Council (BCC) confirmed recently that its delayed transformation of the waste service, which includes the reintroduction of recycling, is set to be rolled out from this June – regardless of the strike.

During a critical budget meeting last week, council leader John Cotton spoke about the bins strike and what residents can expect from key waste services in the future.

“Of course we all want a resolution [for the bins strike dispute] but I have been clear throughout that I will not put this council’s future financial stability at risk,” he told the council chamber.

“My commitment remains for a negotiated settlement – but not one at any price. We will not repeat the mistakes of the past.”

He continued: “In the meantime, we have a plan to bring back recycling and green waste, and to introduce food waste recycling in the months ahead – with a pilot launching in a matter of weeks.”

He went on to confirm that “this plan goes ahead whether the strike is resolved or not” and added that this would ensure that the city finally has a “modern and reliable waste service”.

But if the bins strike does indeed continue into the summer, the plan means recycling collections may not return until at least June – around 15 months after they were first suspended.

Coun Majid Mahmood, the council’s cabinet member for environment, was asked last December what his message is to Brummies who feel let down by not having recycling collections for more than a year.

“I understand the frustration of residents,” he said. “I would like to thank them for their patience and understanding.

“Our recycling [rate] has gone down from 23 per cent to 15 per cent – I would thank all the residents who have been making trips to the household recycling centres.

“To support them, we have extended the hours of operation and we’ve removed the booking system at Castle Bromwich.

“I also want to thank the residents who have been supporting family, friends and neighbours to use the mobile household recycling sites which have been operating across the city.”

The Labour councillor continued that his focus was on transforming the council’s waste service, which has suffered from “high missed collections in the city and low recycling rates”.

“The whole purpose of this transformation is to change that,” he said. “We want to best in class in the country, so thank you again to the residents.”

Last week’s meeting saw budget plans for the next financial year approved, with Coun Cotton saying that the tag of ‘bankrupt Birmingham’ had been ditched.

Birmingham City Council declared itself effectively bankrupt in 2023, with the fallout involving an enormous wave of cuts to local services and council tax hikes.

Birmingham-specific factors contributed to the financial crisis, such as the equal pay and Oracle debacles, while Labour councillors have partly blamed funding cuts during the previous Conservative government.

“We have reached an important milestone in the council’s recovery and that is down to the sheer hard work that has been undertaken here in Birmingham by members and officers, supported by commissioners,” Coun Cotton said.

“We have closed a £300 million budget gap, tackled our equal pay liabilities, and are getting to grips with improving the services that the council provides for the residents of Birmingham.”

The council has also said that the 2026/27 budget includes an extra £130m investment in council services, which enables BCC to invest an extra £40m in cleaner streets and increase funding to tackle fly-tipping enforcement.

“This is possible for two reasons,” Coun Cotton told the Local Democracy Reporting Service this week. “Firstly because of the steps we’ve taken to eliminate the deficit in the budget.

“But also we’ve benefited from a fair funding settlement from government which for the first time is multi-year, so we can plan for the next three years.”

The budget meeting also saw Birmingham Labour come under fire over the impacts of the bankruptcy and ongoing bins strike however, with opposition councillors also pointing out that the crisis-hit council still faces major challenges.

Conservative group leader Coun Robert Alden slammed the ‘double whammy of higher taxes for fewer services’ recently, adding: “Labour’s budget only passed by the skin of their teeth after their own chaos forced an adjournment and reconvening.

“This is the direct result of 14 years of failure: bankruptcy, bin mountains, dirty streets and broken promises that have left Birmingham in ruins.”

Waste transformation

The planned transformation of the waste service has been described as an important aspect of the council’s financial recovery plan in the past and will see collections of household rubbish move from weekly to fortnightly.

Weekly food waste collections and a second recycling bin specifically for recycling paper and cardboard are also set to be introduced in phases across the city from June 2026 onwards.

A previous council report added that the waste service team will investigate wider options to reinstate recycling and green waste “as soon as reasonably practicable”.

The transformation of the waste service was delayed last year due to the bins strike dispute between the council and Unite the union, initially triggered by the loss of the Waste Recycling and Collection Officer role.

Striking workers have claimed they face a pay cut of £8,000 – the council disputes this figure and insists that a fair offer had been made before negotiations came to an end last summer.