Row as Dudley Council announces switch to fortnightly collections for general waste wheelie bins

Dudley is the last local authority in the West Midlands to offer weekly collections of general waste.

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But council leader Councillor Patrick Harley says a new government directive, which requires food waste to be collected separately from general rubbish, means that the council's black wheelie bins will now only be collected fortnightly.

The move sparked an angry backlash from Reform UK councillor Shaun Keasey, who accused Councillor Harley of hypocrisy, saying he had strongly opposed fortnightly bin collections when he was in opposition in 2016.

But Councillor Harley accused his opponent of pantomime theatrics, saying that food waste would still be collected every week.

Every household in Dudley borough will now be issued with a new container for food waste, alongside the existing containers for paper, card, plastics and glass recycling. 

The food container will be emptied every week, but the black wheelie bins, which will now only be used for non-food waste, will only be collected on alternate weeks.

Councillor Keasey said Councillor Harley had also spoken out against proposals by the then Labour-run council to introduce charges for green waste recycling nine years ago, only to introduce the charges himself last year.

He quoted a statement where Councillor Harley, as opposition leader of the council, had said: “We will fight this tooth and nail to ensure weekly bin collections stay and that residents are not charged for green waste. This is a shameful proposal by an arrogant and out of touch administration."

Councillor Keasey added: “In 2024, Mr Harley’s own Conservative administration introduced charges for green waste collections, and then increased them again in 2025. Now, in 2026, they’re planning to move to fortnightly bin collections. This is hypocrisy of the highest order. By his own words, his Conservative administration must now be ‘arrogant and out of touch'."

But Councillor Harley said it was misleading to say that the council was ending weekly bin collections when food waste would be collected each week.

"The reaction from the council is typical pantomime theatrics," he said.

"The council is not going to two-week collections. We will collect waste from residents properties every week. The only change is that due to government regulations all councils will have to introduce food waste collections from 2026. To do that food waste will have to be collected separate from other recyclable waste."

Councillor Keasey said that due to the Conservatives’ 'apparent mismanagement of Dudley’s finances', residents were being asked to pay more to get less.

"There is no government directive mandating fortnightly general waste collections, this is a local political choice, and a bad one at that,” he said.

But Councillor Harley replied: "He is clearly wrong and misunderstands the government directive. This is not a decision based on the council's finances but a necessity to prepare for a government-led instruction that will apply to every council in England by the end of next year.

"Our fortnightly recycling collections will continue as usual, and the introduction of the new weekly food waste collection service means that residents will still have one weekly waste collection."

He said that collecting all food and recyclable waste separately will mean that less refuse will be put in the wheelie bins.

"Councillor Keasey would probably moan if we collected half-empty black bins every week instead of every two weeks," he said.

"What he fails to recognise is that the food waste that smells, attracts vermin, and needs to be collected every week will still be collected every single week."

Councillor Harley said the fortnightly year-round green bin collection had proved 'massively popular' and would continue to be collected at the same rate.