Improving Waste Management in Bristol

On 4th June 2026 the Environment and Sustainability Committee agreed to set up a "Waste and Recycling Task and Finish Group (Phase 2)", which will be chaired by Cllr James Crawford (Green).

The group will hold 4 meetings covering different themes:

Circular Economy: Repair and Reuse

A tour of the renew hub in Manchester accompanied by Bristol City Council officers with invitations extended to neighbouring authorities and the Bristol Repair Coalition

Fly-tip and Bulky Waste Disposal

examine the effectiveness of current bulky waste services, including the role of discounted collections and community skip schemes in increasing uptake and reducing illegal dumping. The group will also explore the barriers faced by residents when disposing of large items—such as cost, transport limitations and awareness of Household Reuse and Recycling Centre (HRRC) requirements—and consider how these barriers can be minimised to further deter fly‑tipping behaviour

Collection methods (excluding. Kerbside)

how Bristol can design services that work effectively for high‑density neighbourhoods, flats, mixed‑use areas and locations where traditional kerbside collection is not practical

Principles for the Waste & Resource Strategy

examine how leading local authorities across the UK have structured their waste strategies, particularly those recognised for innovation in circular economy initiatives, reuse partnerships, high recycling performance, community engagement, and service integration

What will the Task and Finish group actually do?

The Task and Finish Group will generate an evidence-rich set of products that will collectively form the backbone of Bristol’s emerging Waste & Resources Strategy. Specifically, the outputs will include: a. Evidence-based Recommendations A set of well-supported recommendations drawn from data, community insight, best practice and external expert input.

I have produced a number of researched articles (data and community insight) that the group might find useful.

June 2025 - Flytipping reports likely to increase by 3000% in 2025

In 2024, there were 323 Flytipping reports on FixMyStreet. In 2025 there were 13,813 reports, which is an increase of over 4000%, which was much higher than my estimate of 3000%. So far in 2026 there have already been 8,136 reports made, which means we are on track to beat the 2025 record.

In April 2025, Ken Lawson the Head of Waste at BCC suggested that the increase in fly tipping was due to people feeling better off.

Mr Lawson said: "We think the cost-of-living suppressed some purchasing and now, with inflation dropping and wages going up a bit, we think we saw an uptick in expenditure towards the end of last year."

He said people were "potentially fly-tipping more" because they "felt a little bit better off".

I think that "cost of living" challenges have increased the level of fly-tipping because many people find the increased fees for "bulky item collection" to be too high and resort to fly tipping instead.

Will the Task and Finish group be looking at the data for bulk waste collections to see if increasing fees have reduced the take up for this service?

June 2025 - Did you go to the tip this weekend?

The changes in opening hours and a move to booking visits to recycling centres has resulted in a loss of at least 30% of "slots". When the booking system was proposed Cllr Richard Eddy raised some concerns:

I truly fear this ill-thought-out booking system will lead to an explosion in citywide fly-tipping.

If Bristolians are forced to accept a booking system where they cannot be assured of taking recyclable items to the tip at a specified time and may be turned away, I can foresee a huge upsurge in Bristolians leaving their waste illegally elsewhere

Will the Task and Finish group look to review the opening hours and booking system for recycling centres?

June 2026 - Lithium Battery Fires

The disposal of Lithium Batteries is a growing problem that has resulted in incidents related to lithium batteries increasing every year according to data from Avon Fire and Rescue.

Will the Task and Finish group look at recommendations that will deal with this growing problem?