The great bin postcode lottery: Interactive map shows huge disparity between number of wheelie bins, bags and boxes needed and how much gets recycled across Britain... so how does YOUR council compare?

• In Bristol, residents need as many as 13 bins and bags to get rid of their waste
• But in other parts of the country, locals only need to use three or four

A new interactive map reveals the postcode lottery for the number of bins, bags  and boxes Britons need to leave out for the bin men every week.

There is a huge disparity between what some councils will collect and how much they need to separate your various items of waste into different wheelie bins, boxes and boxes.

Analysis of Government data also reveals the recycling rates – what percentage of rubbish gets recycled, reused or composted – which can vary wildly between councils across Great Britain.

Outraged residents of Bristol are forced to sort their rubbish into as many as thirteen different bins, bags and boxes. But in many other parts of the country, such as Birmingham, residents only need to use three bins to get dispose of their waste.

On Thursday mornings, Caledonia Place in Clifton, Bristol is filled with hundreds of rubbish bins for general waste, plastic, glass, cardboard, tins, food and garden waste.

A plurality of British councils – 130 out of 360 – give residents four bins, bags or boxes to leave their rubbish out, and on average these areas have a recycling rate of 41.3 per cent. These bins will, in the most part, be for general waste, mixed recycling, food waste and garden waste – which is now often an additional paid service.

MailOnline analysis of council regimes shows that 97 councils give residents just three bins to dispose of their rubbish. It also shows 60 councils in England, Scotland and Wales use five bins, normally when recycling is split across two bins – such as one for paper and one for glass and metal.

Residents are required to painstakingly sort their rubbish into six bins and containers by 31 councils and for those in 26 local authorities they use seven. Just seven local authorities require eight and five require nine.

To use our interactive map, hover your mouse over an area or tap on mobile to see how many bins are used and the council’s recycling rate:

Theodore, six, helps his mother with the recycling on Caledonia Place in Clifton, Bristol – where residents have to put out as many as 13 different bins, bags and boxes

Recycling boxes and bags left outside homes on Caledonia Place in Clifton on Thursday morning

In Bristol, residents are required to use as many as 13 seperate bins to dispose of their waste

In many other parts of the country, such as Birmingham (pictured), residents only need to use three bins to get dispose of their waste

People in and around the Clifton area in Bristol have said they are disgusted at the sheer amount of wheelie bins and recycling boxes that are scattered up and down the streets. Residents have now been forced to add extra bags for batteries, clothes and shoes which increases the amount of bags to double figures.

The 13 bins, boxes and bags needed in Bristol 

• General refuse bin
• Garden waste bin
• Cardboard box
• Paper and glass box
• Metal and plastic box
• Food waste caddy
• Clothes and shoes in a carrier bag
• Small electricals in a carrier bag
• Shredded paper in a carrier bag
• Batteries in a clear plastic bag
• Engine oil in a clear sealed container
• Car batteries loose next to the boxes
• Spectacles loose next to recycling bins

If residents do not sort the rubbish into the correct bins – some of which they have to pay for – they do not get collected, and residents have branded it a ‘tedious bore’.

Desiree Jones, 46, a mother-of-one who lives on Caledonia Place, said: ‘It’s really awkward, but this is the only option you have. You actually have to pay to get the bins.

‘This is your only option, but you actually have to pay for the privilege of being able to sort your recycling and put it out, on top of your council tax. It is a bore and it’s tedious.

‘The problem is that you have to store [the rubbish] in your flat until it’s recycling and rubbish day. When children are quite small as well, that includes nappies and that is awful.’

The rubbish bags also crowd the narrow streets in Clifton so people are forced to walk on the road. ‘If you’ve got a pushchair you have to walk in the road’, she added.

And residents of towns and cities which use much simpler bin systems, such as Birmingham where only three are needed in large parts, certainly would not like to switch to a more complex arrangement such as Bristol’s.

Catherine Charlery, 67, a cleaner said the idea of having more bins was ‘ridiculous’.

The Government announced late last year that it would end confusing household waste rules, announcing a new ‘three bin’ policy that means glass, food waste and garden waste will be collected from all English homes by 2026 (pictured: a bin lorry in Edgbaston, Birmingham)

Residents in Bristol are furious over the number of bins they need to leave outside their homes

The rubbish bags also crowd the narrow streets in Clifton so people are forced to walk on the road

Rubbish left out in various boxes and bags outside a home in Clifton, Bristol on Thursday

‘The bins are a fire hazard’: Bristol residents fuming over their 13 bins

Bristol residents have said that the huge number of bins they need to dispose of their rubbish are a ‘fire hazard’.

Moira and Jonathan Webb, 52 and 58, who live on Caledonia Place, have said that the number of bins cause a fire hazard inside their flat.

‘It’s more a problem inside because you have to have five inside this fire risk,’ said Mr Webb.

Mrs Webb said that she is happy to recycle and added: ‘I take pride in living in such a nice area that makes such a big difference.’

Jenny Roberts, 37, who works at Bar Chocolat said that bins outside the shop belong to residents and have not been collected for six weeks because they were not sorted correctly – so are ignored by bin collectors.

She said: ‘It feels awful walking past. It’s just a shame that we work so hard in the business and that’s what the customers see.

‘I’ve had this place 12 years and we’ve never been able to keep on top of it. It’s not a new problem.’

Steve Roberts, 60, a sales estimator, and Nigel Palmer, 58, a director, work near to Caledonia Place at a carpet shop said the rubbish left outside near their shop can put of customers.

Mr Palmer said: ‘It’s really annoying because it’s not our rubbish and it’s being left outside our shop which is not attractive at all for our customers.’

‘You get poo bags from dog walkers and there was even an ironing board across the path.’ added Nigel

Steve said ‘The thing is, by the nicer looking houses you won’t see as much rubbish but around here it is ridiculous.

‘I’ve seen one man who took the challenge upon himself to sort out the rubbish and he did this two weeks ago and he cleared a lot of rubbish but it builds up so quickly.’

When asked about Bristol’s bins, she said: ‘Oh my god no, that’s a bit much, I don’t think that’s a good idea at all. Where are people going to walk if you have all those different bins. Think of people with wheelchairs and pushchairs.’

When asked about adopting a similar setup, she said: ‘I don’t think it would be worth it, I think our system works.

‘I’d rather it every week, it might be smelling on the road. It’s ridiculous. Every year the cost of the garden waste bin goes up too.’

Birmingham gardener Andy, in his 40s, said rubbish is already sorted when it reaches waste sites.

Asked about wanting to adopt a similar setup, he said: ‘No, who would? It all gets mixed together at the end, there’s technology onsite to sort it, it’s just showmanship from the council. They’re trying to visibly look like they’re sorting it, it’s all about visibility for council it’s not practical.’

Asked about would a similar Bristol setup keep streets clean, he said: ‘Why would it help it. When the binman collect the recycling half of it falls out anyway and I’ve had an argument with the bin men. Say you had all these boxes the front of your house the foxes get it the wind gets it. There’s not enough room outside to put all the bins outside.’

Bristol’s recycling rate of 45 per cent is marginally better than the average across Britain of around 42 per cent.

Data does show that councils which use more bins tend to have higher recycling rates on average. At around 36 per cent on average for councils with three bins, 41 per cent for four, and around 45 per cent for five and six bins.

The 26 councils which have seven ways to dispose of waste have an average recycling rate of just over 48 per cent.

The Government announced late last year that it would end confusing household waste rules, announcing a new ‘three bin’ policy that means glass, food waste and garden waste will be collected from all English homes by 2026.

A drive towards ‘simpler’ recycling means different dry items – such as plastic, glass and cardboard – should be collected together in one bin. The new rules will also require all councils in England to collect garden waste from 2026, although they will be allowed to charge for it.

Rishi Sunak promised in September that previous plans for ‘seven bins’ in each household would be scrapped. Now, under the ‘Simpler Recycling’ scheme, households can expect to have fewer – typically three – combining several types of waste.

But councils have accused the Government of breaking a ‘longstanding doctrine that it funds the full costs of any new burdens it imposes on councils’, saying it is not providing local authorities with enough cash to implement the new bin regime.

Cllr Sarah Nelmes, Environment Spokesperson at the District Councils’ Network, said: ‘District councils have some of the highest recycling rates in the country but we want to do even more to improve our services and deliver environmental benefits to our local places.

‘The Government’s Simpler Recycling plan will mean significant service changes at many councils. New waste lorries, bins and, in some cases, larger depots will be required, all at great expense.

‘The funding currently on offer is nowhere near enough.

‘Unless the Government upholds the longstanding doctrine that it funds the full costs of any new burdens it imposes on councils, hard-pressed councils will have even fewer resources to support our communities.

Birmingham gardener Andy (pictured), in his 40s, said that he would not want to use extra bins

Birmingham residents usually only need two bins or three if they pay extra for garden waste

‘We are pleased the Government listened to councils and to our residents when we feared their previous proposals would lumber households with up to seven bins and would be unworkable.

Birmingham residents: ‘We would not swap three bins for 13’

Birmingham resident Marguerate Garber, 78, said she wouldn’t change her system if offered the chance to. She said: ‘Our bins are fine at the moment. At the moment we have our household and then recycling every two weeks. I’m happy with it but I’m on my own. We’re quite happy.

‘I think it’s ridiculous, I think most people would think it was a waste of time. We’d get confused. We wouldn’t know what to put in what and what to put in the other.

‘Even now I have to think about what I put in which bin. We just have one recycling and one general. I couldn’t cope with it, I don’t think most people could do.

‘I don’t even pay for a garden waste. I think it’s just another way of them taking money off of you. I don’t agree with it as we’re already paying for our council tax.’

A resident who wished to remain anonymous was shocked at the state of the bin collection in Bristol. She said: ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe it. Why do they need so many.

‘We out here struggling with the three bins we have out here. My husband struggles to get them up and down. It’s too much. My sister lives in London and they’ve started a similar system.

‘They’ve got a brown bin for food waste, separate plastics and paper and general waste. It depends on if people engage with it.

‘We used to have the blue bins here for the plastics and the separate section for the paper. It all depends on the split of the household, if there’s too many of you it can easily overflow.’

‘Now the Government needs to listen when we tell them that their new proposals – although an improvement – will be unrealistic unless council are funded for the full costs.

‘We share the Government’s commitment to improving recycling and we want to work with them to make it happen.’

Two-thirds councils have said that they will not be able to hit the Government’s April 2026 deadline to ‘simplify’ recycling services due to the high costs and lack of central funding.

Many already cash-strapped councils face a multi-million-pound bill to revamp recycling services and expect a significant shortfall in the funding they will receive to undertake the work, according to research by the District Councils’ Network (DCN).

A DCN survey of 99 councils showed that 98 percent of those who will implement new weekly waste food collections would need to buy new bin lorries or upgrade existing ones costing them an average of £950,000.

And 76 per cent of councils said they will need to expand depot space to cope with extra waste rounds required to implement weekly food waste collections. The median cost of depot expansion is £1.5million, and one council expects its bill to be £15million.

Costs for councils with outsourced services are also expected to rise by around £800,000 a year due to the changes, after the cost of waste collection rose by 13 per cent of average last year.

In December, DEFRA published details of the capital allocations councils will receive to cover the cost of introducing weekly food waste collections.

District councils – the waste collection authorities over much of England – say they are likely to face an average shortfall of at least £210,000 to fund the new vehicles and containers required to introduce food waste collections. This shortfall excludes the capital cost of investing in new or expanded depots which the Government has indicated it will not fund at all.

The Government’s calculation of the capital funding required by councils was undertaken when the plans were first devised in 2018. But the DCN said this fails to take into account the high inflation seen in recent years, which has increased the average cost of buying a new waste lorry by £25,000.

Rubbish left out in bags for collection in Clifton, Bristol on Thursday morning

Bins laid out on the street in Edgbaston area of Birmingham where residents only need two or three bins

The DCN say shortfall would breach the longstanding convention that when ‘new burdens’ are imposed on local government, any reasonable costs are paid for by central government.

This could mean already financially stretched councils will be unable to afford to implement the reforms or will have to cut other valuable capital programmes or services to do so.

One rural council said it will receive less than 50 per cent of the capital investment needed to cover the cost of the vehicles. Five across one county are anticipating a £2.1million shortfall if buying diesel waste vehicles or nearly £6million if buying electric ones. And three councils which operate a joint contract face a shortfall of £750,000 to procure equipment.

The DCN said the ‘continuing silence’ from the Government over the new bins policy and its funding ‘puts districts at even further risk’.

A Defra spokesperson said: ‘Our reforms will introduce weekly collections of food waste for most households as well as a common-sense approach to recycling.

‘We have backed this with up to £295m in capital funding to help local authorities purchase food waste containers and vehicles to expand or roll out weekly food waste collection services.

‘We are working closely with local authorities to deliver this funding, and to provide them with guidance and support needed for the successful introduction of Simpler Recycling.’

Read more