Two district councils have accepted collecting residents' rubbish every three weeks instead of the current two could be an "unpopular" decision.

Babergh and Mid Suffolk councils are discussing changes to bin collections this week, following on from East Suffolk's prior move to alter its collection timetable.

The government has legislated for councils to align their recycling and waste partnership with the new nationwide Simpler Recycling scheme by March 31, 2026.

As part of this, it is proposed that both districts move to a "twin stream" approach for a roadside recycling collection service. In addition, refuse collections would change to every three weeks. 

The changes are set to be discussed this week (file image)The changes are set to be discussed this week (file image) (Image: Newsquest)

Weekly food waste collections would also be delivered. 

The report states: "Whilst all potential options present implementation challenges and may be unpopular with some residents, maintaining the status quo is not an option, and the Environment Act (2021) requires local authorities to enact changes to services by April 2026."

Under the proposed twin stream collection model, each household would be provided with an additional bin or container to separate their recycling - one for paper and card and one for plastics, metal, cartons, glass bottles and jars.

This would reduce the amount of processing at the recycling facility.

"Splitting the recycling into the two separate containers is shown to reduce overall contamination and cost of recycling compared with co-mingled collections," the report adds. 

"Based on an expected 8,000 tonnes of recycling material per annum, the fully comingled option would initially cost the council an additional £272,000 per year in material processing costs over processing twin stream, whereas the processing of twin stream would cost £74,160 less per annum than current."

If the current two-weekly refuse collections were to continue, it would mean vehicles operate "inefficiently" and impact council efforts to achieve the "highest possible levels of recycling".

A spokesperson for both councils added: “We know that change on this scale will not be without challenges for some households, but we will work with anyone with exceptional needs on a case-by-case basis, to ensure we are adopting this government legislation in a way that works best for Babergh and its communities.

"For example, our waste officers already consider circumstances such as medical needs and addressing the needs of larger families, among others.”

Babergh discussed the proposals on Monday afternoon, while Mid Suffolk will do so on Tuesday morning.

The two councils had previously said changes to bin collections were being considered in a bid to encourage people to recycle more and dispose of food waste in specific bins.

Last month, East Suffolk Council said it would be revamping its waste collections - with rubbish bins collected every three weeks instead of two.