Thousands of bin collections being missed weekly

Thousands of bins in Brighton and Hove are still being missed most weeks despite an improvement in collections rates, according to council figures.

More than 98% of about 200,000 rubbish bins were emptied in 12 out of the first 26 weeks of 2026, Brighton & Hove City Council (BHCC) said.

The area's Conservative leader Alistair McNair labelled the rate of missed collections in Patcham and Hollingbury "appalling" and said some roads were missed for up to four weeks.

Labour's Tim Rowkins, BHCC's cabinet member for environmental services, said £1.3m had been invested in its service, which benefited from digital monitoring as well as new vehicles and equipment.

McNair said residents were "frustrated" there were not automatic catch-up collections if an area had been missed.

Brighton & Hove Independents councillor Mark Earthey said Rottingdean and West Saltdean had similar problems, with roads at the end of the rounds often missed when workers ran out of time.

"Any glitches or delays encountered in the system start to accumulate, and when the system breaks, Saltdean is at the back end," he explained.

Independent councillor Peter Atkinson said general rubbish and food waste collections had been going well in North Portslade, but added there had been issues with recycling.

"Residents need to see an efficient service with a quick catch-up of missed collections before they are ready to consider two-weekly refuse collections," he added.

Rowkins said the "overwhelming majority" of collections were made on time.

"There are many reasons why a collection can be missed, including vehicle breakdowns, staff shortages, sickness, access issues and severe weather, including icy conditions and periods of extreme heat," he said.

"But we are determined to deliver the level of service the city and its residents expect and deserve."

The council started recording completed collections electronically in November 2025, making January to June the first six-month period when officials could monitor accurately how well the service was doing.

While the heat had caused problems, the icy weather in January made the biggest dent in collection rates, with just three-quarters of bins emptied in the first full week of the year, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Collection rates also fell below 90% in the final week of May as temperatures started to increase, and were at slightly more than 92% for the last two weeks of June.

The food waste collection had a rate of more than 99% for 14 out of the 18 weeks after the service went city-wide in March.

Recycling rates also topped 99% for seven weeks, with the lowest rate being 81% in the first full week of January.

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