00:00Bristol Waste has forecast a loss of around £800,000 this year as China has flooded the
00:07market with cheap plastic. Bristol Waste, a council-owned rubbish company, is struggling
00:14to balance the books. A major challenge facing the firm, which collects the bins of thousands
00:21of homes in Bristol, says that plummeting price of recycled materials like plastic is
00:28impacting them. The price the firm can sell recycled material to packaging producers is
00:33falling fast as there is now less demand from producers and more competition from factories
00:40making cheap, virgin plastic. Adding to cost pressures at Bristol Waste are wider challenges
00:46like rising costs and wages. Meanwhile, a fifth of households in Bristol have been affected
00:53by unacceptable levels of missed bin collections, with streets across the city regularly waiting
01:00days to have their recycling picked up late, according to Bristol Waste's shareholder business
01:06plan. The business plan will be considered by councillors on the Strategy and Resourcing
01:14Policy Committee on Monday, March 17th. Satisfaction with the recycling service also dropped from
01:2174% in 2022 to 62% last year, according to council quality of service. The business plan
01:30said that there are external and internal challenges facing the business, such as declining
01:36recycling revenue rates driven by the external market and slower commercial growth, which
01:43they are having to manage carefully.
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