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No need to change bin collections, says councillor

Vikki Irwin/BBC A picture of Dave Taylor. He is facing the camera and smiling. He is standing in a council room with tables and chairs behind him. He is bald and has a grey beard. He is wearing a blue gilet jacket over the top of a striped blue and white shirt.Vikki Irwin/BBC
West Suffolk Independents councillor Dave Taylor said the council did not see a reason to change its general waste collection like other councils

A council has decided not to change its bin collection schedule - despite neighbouring authorities adopting less frequent collections.

Councils in Suffolk have been changing the way they recycle household waste as part of the last government's simpler recycling scheme to ensure there are weekly food bin collections.

This has led to several councils moving to general waste collection every third week to allow for the changes.

West Suffolk Council voted on Tuesday night to add the extra bins and food waste collection from 2026 but leave general waste collection at every two weeks.

Vikki Irwin/BBC A general view of waste bins on a street. It shows three bins - one black, one blue and one brown.Vikki Irwin/BBC
West Suffolk residents will see changes to their recycling from 2026

West Suffolk Council is led by West Suffolk Working Partnership.

Independent councillor Dave Taylor, who is responsible for waste collection for the council, said he respected what the other councils were doing but did not see any "urgent need to jump into anything".

He added: "We've listened to our residents and we don't feel there is any reason to change."

Vikki Irwin/BBC A photo of Beccy Hopfensperger. She is facing the camera and smiling in front of a window with open vertical blinds. She has long dark hair and she is wearing and orange and red scarf around her neck. She is wearing a brown coat. Vikki Irwin/BBC
Leader of the Conservatives at West Suffolk Council Beccy Hopfensperger said she felt it was disappointing the amendments were not recognised

The Conservative opposition had asked for reassurances that if the policy were to change in future, it would be voted on by the full council.

They also asked for education and support for the elderly, disabled and those with limited bin space.

Leader of the opposition Beccy Hopfensperger was disappointed the amendments were not agreed but was told any move away from two-weekly collections would come back for further discussion.

"The residents had expressed concerns to us," she said.

"They'd seen other councils vote through three-weekly collection for our refuge and this was tied in with simpler recycling.

"Another thing expressed to us was the lack of space for these extra bins that would come under these new proposals, especially those in terraced housing and flats."

Vikki Irwin/BBC A general view of a West Suffolk black waste bin on a pavement. A road passes next to it.Vikki Irwin/BBC
Bin collections in West Suffolk will stay on a two-weekly cycle

East Suffolk and Mid Suffolk and Babergh councils have adopted the new recycling rules for 2026 and have moved general waste collection to every three weeks.

Ipswich Borough Council is still to announce its plans but has it was not at this point "proposing to increase" bins for recycling or to move to three-weekly collections for general waste.

The councils which have changed their collections estimate there will be significantly less black bin waste.

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