The Labour Cabinet has agreed that Milton Keynes Council will keep weekly waste and the much loved pink sacks for recycling collections until at least 2023.

The decision means Labour-led Milton Keynes Council will be one of the few large Councils to still collect waste on a weekly basis. The vast majority of all councils now collect waste fortnightly, with some councils moving to three weekly or even monthly waste collections to save money.

The Labour Cabinet last night (7 March) agreed to implement the new Waste Strategy that will run until 2023, with the main details being:

* Weekly bin collections will be maintained until at least 2023

* Recycling will still be collected from pink sacks and glass from blue boxes

* Food waste will continue to be collected weekly free from a new “medium size ” caddy

* An opt-in charge of £33 a year per bin will be introduced for garden waste (64p per week-Equal to a First Class Stamp)

* Pink sacks will be able to be ordered from MK Council and delivered to people’s homes to reduce misuse

Cllr Martin Gowans, Cabinet Member for Public Realm said:

“ Labour-led MK Council will maintain weekly bin and recycling collections until at least 2023, and we will continue to collect food waste for free. We are one of the few councils to continue to offer a weekly waste collection, with some councils now moving to three or even monthly collections due to the cuts to local councils.“

Cllr Martin Gowans

He continued,

“However the cost of doing so is around £400,000 from our current budget. We will meet this by charging 64p per week (equal to a First Class Stamp) for collecting garden waste. This will be an optional service and we’ll be issuing new “medium sized” caddies to collect food waste from people who do not wish to pay for the garden waste service.“

Cllr Gowans further commented,

“People will ask why we are not issuing wheelie bins or moving to a different collection system and my answer is simple, what we have works and the cost of doing it differently at the moment is too high to justify the disruption of any change. Issuing wheelie bins and changing our collection vehicles would cost more that £5M and at the moment it wouldn’t be cost effective to do that.“

Cllr Pete Marland

Cllr Peter Marland, Leader of Milton Keynes Council added:

“I’m pleased MK Council will be retaining weekly bin collections, one of the few councils to do so in the entire country. It is an example of how we have listened to the public and ensured that as a well-run Labour Council we are delivering the services people want, despite Tory government cuts.“

Cllr Gowans concluded:

“Keeping weekly bin collections until 2023 is the right thing to do and we have shown how we can pay for it. Pink sacks are staying and food waste collection will be free, while people who want to have their garden waste collected can do so at a small cost. Keeping MK clean and tidy starts with a good waste collection service and a Labour-led MK Council is making sure we continue our excellent waste collection service here in MK.“