Rubbish increase blamed for bin collection delays

A major increase in the amount of waste left out by Bradford households is partly to blame for recent missed bin collections, the council has said.

Bradford Council issued apologies for missed collections for four weeks running, between 22 May and 5 June.

It said 1,600 additional tonnes of waste had been collected from homes across the district in recent months compared to the same period in 2025.

The council said this increase had coincided with roadworks, traffic, vehicle breakdowns, poor parking on residential streets and staff sickness to create "additional pressure" on bin collections.

A council spokesperson said: "Our crews continue to work hard to maintain services, and we are taking steps to strengthen the service and improve resilience."

Independent councillor for Bingley East Joe Wheatley said missed bin collections was an "ongoing issue".

"All sections of the community have been in touch, we've had areas where whole streets haven't been collected," he said.

"It's an ongoing issue but hopefully it will temper down shortly."

Councillor Rebecca Poulsen, leader of the Conservative Group, said residents regularly complained about problems with their waste collections, the Local Democracy Service reports.

"The problem is becoming too regular and people are becoming weary of a wide range of explanations including, bins being too heavy, mechanical breakdown, illness, Eid and access problems," she said.

"My colleagues and I do not think that it is unreasonable of residents to expect the council to have contingency measures in place to deal with all of these problems, none of them are unforeseeable."

Poulsen said the situation was made worse recently when the decision was taken not to open the Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC) in Keighley and Bradford on bank holiday, without giving residents sufficient notice.

The Tories also urged Bradford's new Reform leadership to re-open Sugden End HWRC which was shut down in 2024, and find replacements for closed tips in Ilkley and Queensbury that have since been sold by the council.

A Bradford Council spokesperson said the vast majority of bins were collected on schedule every year but apologised to any residents affected by delays.

"While a very small number of residents have reported missed bins, we recognise the inconvenience this causes and work hard to recover collections as quickly as possible," the spokesperson said.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service also contacted Bradford Council to ask why officers believe there had been a rise in the amount of waste collected this year.

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