Petition gains momentum for immediate pause to ‘major rule change’ after thousands of Wolverhampton bins go uncollected

This has led to thousands of homes' refuse not being collected and angry residents confused about which bits of waste should be washed before being binned.

Residents have also complained that the strict recycling bin rules are leading to more fly-tipping.

Penn Councillor Celia Hibbert, who claims the 'check before you chuck' represents a major rule change, launched a petition on change.org just over two weeks ago.

She said she had aimed to get 500 supporters in the space of a month but had hit her target in around half that time.

The petition, which is still open, demands the immediate pause to the ‘major rule change’ on recycling bins.

Responding to the reaction it has received, Councillor Hibbert said: "We have hit 500 signatures well before our target date.

"I set out to gather 500 signatures in one month, to demonstrate the flawed decision of the cabinet member for environment to reject residents' recycling.

"I'm absolutely amazed that it took just two weeks to do this. We have not only realised the target, we've exceeded this.

"Thank you to every single person who signed and shared this petition."

She said she had been inundated with complaints about this issue.

A Wolverhampton Council spokesman said: “There has not been a ‘major rule change’ in our recycling collections – we have always asked that the correct items are placed in the recycling bin.

“The list of the recyclable materials accepted by the council and our contracted recycling facility has remained unchanged since 2020.

“Our ‘Check before you chuck’ campaign is simply reminding people of their recycling responsibilities to prevent our contamination rates rising. It is proving to have a significant impact on recycling in the city.

“Contamination rates have fallen from 24 per cent in December to 16.6 per cent in February and no loads of waste have been rejected by our recycling facility, saving money on additional disposal costs.

“Early in the campaign, up to 14 per cent of recycling bins were tagged as contaminated and not collected, but last week’s average showed this had dropped to just over four per cent.

“This improvement in the quality of recycling is resulting in financial savings for residents and having a positive impact on the local environment. Bin contamination costs the public purse £185,000 a year – money that could be better spent on other services."

The spokesman added: “We want to thank our residents for their support, with more than nine out of 10 doing their bit to ‘recycle right’. We’d also like to thank residents who have taken the time to leave positive comments and feedback on our social media channels.

“Awareness and education began during December and January, before the bin tagging programme began on January 29. This included information stickers placed on household recycling bins, tips on the council’s social media channels and visits made by the council’s waste team to community meetings.

“The campaign was reported by local media and adverts were placed with local newspapers, on local radio, billboards and electronic road signs.

“Posters and leaflets were put in public and community venues with information in council and community newsletters, visits were made by the waste services team to public meetings and city councillors and MPs have been regularly updated since December about the plans.

“Members of the waste services team are carrying out visits to residents who have not had their bin collected on more than one occasion to offer advice and a guidance leaflet to help them understand what can and can’t go in their recycling bin.

“Posters and leaflets continue to be distributed and the council has also taken on board feedback and requests received from residents via its social media channels and during door-to-door visits.

“This has included providing short films on social media about trickier or confusing items, expanding details about specific materials on our webpage and making updates to bin tags."

For more information about what can and can’t go in recycling bins, visit wolverhampton.gov.uk/check-it

To sign the petition visit change.org/p/demand-for-the-immediate-pause-to-the-major-rule-change-on-recycling-bins