Bradford Council is preparing to take tougher action against households that leave bin bags next to their wheelie bins, with councillors warning that the practice amounts to fly-tipping.
The move was announced during a meeting of Bradford Council this week, where members discussed ongoing problems with missed bin collections across the district.
Reform cllr Ian Walker, the council’s Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhoods and Communities, said enforcement against so-called “side waste” would begin soon after receiving approval from the authority’s executive.
Side waste refers to rubbish left alongside wheelie bins rather than being placed inside them.
Speaking during Wednesday’s full council meeting, Cllr Walker said the increase in side waste was contributing to difficulties faced by refuse collection teams. “We’ve seen a huge increase in side waste,” he said. “We’re going to start enforcement with that. That is being implemented now.”
Councils have the power to issue fines to residents who leave waste outside their bins for collection.
The issue was raised repeatedly during the meeting, which marked the first opportunity for councillors to question Bradford’s new Reform-led administration following May’s local elections.
Your Bradford Independent councillor Talat Sajawal criticised the recent performance of the bin collection service, telling the chamber that residents had become increasingly frustrated by missed collections. “We needed change for the better, not change for the worse,” he said.
“When you look at the state of bin collections in the last few weeks, residents are up in arms about that.”
T he issue was raised during a question to the Reform administration from Labour councillor Abdul Jabar (Great Horton), who highlighted growing frustration among residents over missed bin collections. Cllr Jabar acknowledged that occasional mistakes were inevitable but said the volume of complaints in recent weeks had become a concern. He asked the council to explain why collections were being missed, what the main causes were and what action was being taken to restore a reliable service.
Responding, cllr Walker said a number of factors had contributed to the disruption. These included staff struggling with high summer temperatures, heat affecting the hydraulic systems on refuse vehicles and access issues caused by poorly parked cars preventing bin lorries from reaching some properties.
Cllr Walker said the council was also preparing to take action against “side waste” – rubbish left beside wheelie bins rather than inside them.
He said: “The bins issue has been quite emotional over the last few weeks. We’ve seen a huge increase in side waste across the district.
“Side waste is fly-tipping. It’s when a wheelie bin is put out with additional bin bags left beside it. We are going to start enforcing against that, and those measures are being implemented now.”
