Roger Harmer of the Liberal Democrats was elected as the Leader of the Council at the City Council meeting of 6th June, by a vote of the councillors. He offered to lead a coalition with Greens and independents. Since the votes were 40 for Cllr Harmer out of 101 councillors, to have a majority on specific measures the support of other parties will be needed, such as Conservatives and Labour. Reform holds the most seats, but no party has overall control.
Roger Harmer told the Council that the new coalition’s priorities begin with getting resolution of the waste dispute with UNITE and re-starting household recycling collections, with the aim of getting to “record high levels of recycling”.
BFOE notes that in 2025, Birmingham’s recycling was the lowest in the UK, at 14% of collection (which residents took to the tip). The government’s Simpler Recycling Regulations require all authorities in England to collect in separate bins, with the goal of 65% recycling. Wales passed this already in 2025 and the City of Swansea reported a 72% recycling rate, so see what is possible.
In the short term, the roll out of bins for cardboard and paper is on hold. The pilot with food waste collection will continue in some neighbourhoods. All households are supposed to be having a weekly collection of their grey rubbish bins. The challenges of “waste transformation” to a high recycling system will be massive for a city of 1 million people.
We ask that residents write to their new councillor, with your name and address, asking for the changes to be progressed.
Here is a template email:
Dear Councillor.
I live at address postcode and I congratulate you on being elected. A high priority for me and my family is to get the household recycling collections re-started. Free bulky waste collections would also be very helpful. Will you urge your party leader to make these changes a priority for the new Council, please?
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Please do let us know if you receive a response back.
