Salford councillors have given the go-ahead for a pilot scheme to trial bin collections once every three weeks.
The scheme met with strong disapproval when it was revealed last week.
Collection of non-recyclable waste – in black bins – will now move from being collected once every two weeks to once every three weeks.
Jason Turner, who lives in Bury where the council already have three-weekly collections wrote: “Fly tipping will increase. Vermin will increase. The smell will increase. Can you imagine three weeks of dirty nappies & animal waste. It’s not just a volume/recycling issue, it’s a hygiene issue.
Lesley Calvert, who lives in Weaste, posted: “God help us we are swimming in rubbish in the Weaste area already. The people don’t know what recycling means never mind doing it. We have mountains of rubbish which stinks…as soon as the bin men clear it away more builds up.
“Living in terraced houses we now have the bins in the front gardens. So not only does the smell from these bins affect the people who don’t recycle they also affect those that do. I recycle everything possible but if the council started allowing us to recycle all plastics such as packaging we would have very little in the bin. My Polish neighbours said in Poland all plastics even plastic bags are recycled.”
An eight-month trial will start in July 2016 in Worsley, Boothstown, Ellenbrook, Irlam, Cadishead, Little Hulton, Pendlebury, Swinton and Walkden.
If it’s considered a success, the trial will be rolled out to parts of Kersal, Winton, Eccles, Ellesmere Park, Weaste and Seedley, Claremont and Langworthy, with city-wide three-weekly collections brought in by August 2017.
Salford Council say food and green waste will still be collected every week and recyclable materials every fortnight.
The size of the 240 litre bins will not be reduced.
The cost of sending waste to landfill is set to rise to £325 per tonne, whereas every tonne of waste recycled generates £25 for Salford City Council, the authority said.
The council collects on average 6,250 tonnes of waste per month.
Councillor Gena Merrett, executive lead member for housing and environment, said recycling rates in Salford have plateaued at 42%.
“If we don’t increase recycling further and stop sending so much waste to landfill, we could be looking at spending up to £3.5 million more on waste in the next few years. That’s an awful lot of money to spend on throwing rubbish into a hole in the ground,” she said.
“If we can boost recycling we could save at least £1 million per year. That’s money we can spend on services for local people. It’s estimated that 35% of the waste that goes into black bins could be recycled, so there a lot of potential.
“I do understand people’s concerns about this but weekly food collections will not be changed. And if everyone in the city recycled just 22 extra plastic bottles, 17 extra glass jars and 30 more cans a year, it would push recycling rates in the city up by five percent and be so much better for the environment.”
