Birmingham bins boss provides update on when mountains of rubbish could be cleared

All-out strike ongoing for weeks means 17,000 tonnes of waste remains uncollected across city

Birmingham’s bins boss has issued an update on when the mountains of rubbish piling up around the city could be cleared.

An estimated 17,000 tonnes of waste remained uncollected across Birmingham this week due to an all-out bins strike that has been ongoing for weeks, leading to health and safety concerns, with residents complaining about rats.

The Unite union launched the action after the scrapping of waste collection and recycling officer roles – and Birmingham City Council declared a major incident on Monday as the long-running dispute between the union and council continues.

The council claims that daily blocking of its depots by pickets has meant workers cannot get their vehicles out to collect waste, including the 90 that their contingency plan allows for, with a focus of the major incident being on making sure bin lorries can safely enter and exit. It said declaring a major incident will initially increase the availability of street cleansing and fly-tip removal, with an additional 35 vehicles and crews around the city.

The council’s cabinet member for environment Coun Majid Mahmood told a meeting this week that he was aware some areas have not had collections for up to seven weeks as he provided a timeline for when the rubbish could finally be cleared up.

A weeks-long strike by refuse workers in Birmingham has left tonnes of rubbish piled up in the city’s streets (PA Wire)

Birmingham Mail reported he said on Wednesday: “Once we are able to get the 90 trucks out, it will take us a fortnight, possibly three or four weeks, to try and get us back to where we should be in terms of the delivery of the service for the people.

“But after that, it’ll take us at least three or four weeks to get the clean-up of the city as to where we want it to be.

“It all depends on the support that we get from all our different partners.”

Members of Unite on the picket line in Tyseley, Birmingham, amid the ongoing refuse workers' strike in the city (Jacob King/PA Wire)

Speaking outside Birmingham City Council House earlier this week, leader John Cotton said that only by declaring a major incident and deploying the waste service’s contingency plan would the council be able to clear the backlog of waste on the city’s streets and increase the frequency of collections.

But Unite general secretary Sharon Graham has pledged to “defend Birmingham’s refuse workforce to the hilt” as she urged the council “to rethink this disastrous strategy”.