Hundreds of households in Stockport had their bin collections missed after the council began enforcing an existing rule that wheelie bin lids must be fully closed. The move has been labelled "pathetic", "petty" and "woke" by angry residents.
A reminder sent last week to Totally Local Company (TLC) employees, which operates the borough's bin services, told staff not to collect wheelie bins where the lid is open. While that is not a new policy, the recent enforcement of this rule left hundreds of people with uncollected bins.
Maria Ralph was among those who spoke to the Manchester Evening News this week. She said: "I am relieved I have had mine collected [...] I just think it's so petty if they are not going to empty it if it's an inch open. I don't think it's fair." Another resident put it bluntly: "How childish and woke from a council."
Safety reasons behind the enforcement
The change to enforce the policy properly has been brought in because of safety issues caused by bin lids being open. In 2016, a Stockport bin man was left with broken bones and fighting for his life after a bin dropped from the back of a lorry. It is understood an open bin increases the risk workers might incorrectly place the vessel on the back of the lorry due to poor visibility. This increases the chance of similar incidents occurring again as well as litter to spill out onto the road.
The council has said the mechanics of how the bins are collected can fail when a lid is not fully closed or is missing. Cabinet member councillor Jake Austin said: "Bin collection crews have faced an enormously difficult task operating during the recent heatwaves, and their safety is paramount."
Residents hit by uncollected bins
In recent years, after a charge was introduced for garden waste in 2025 and paper bin collections went from every two weeks to every four weeks, some people see the latest change as another dip in the quality of a service they get in return for their council tax.
Windermere Road in Manor was one of the first places to be hit by the new approach. Oliver, who did not give his full name, said: "It's a joke. People are getting these price increases and then they are getting it on the chin. It's a clean street and the gardens are nice. The moment you start messing with the waste, you will ruin it."
Debbie and Paul Bailey said they had been unaffected so far by the change but had noticed a number of bins on their road had not been collected. Debbie said: "I think it's stupid", adding: "Leaving the bins that makes it even worse because everybody is going to end up with rats. They should go back to the way it was before. The amount that has been left near ours, it's daft." Paul added: "At one time, the bin men used to carry metal bins on their shoulder no matter how much rubbish was coming out of the back. Never bothered them as they would get a big tip at Christmas."
Stephen Gill, who used to work as a bin man, said he was not sure what the solution is but argued there did need to be more communication around any changes. He said what used to be a good job was tougher, adding: "It's a different world. In those days, you didn't have the recycling." While some people have blamed bin workers over the situation, Stephen like many others does not think they are to blame. He said: "It's not the workers. It's the employers."
Not everyone's fault
In the last week, some people said their bin was not collected even when it was not their fault. Patricia Lightbody told the Manchester Evening News when she put her bin out, it was half full and the lid firmly shut. However in the night, someone else came along and put their rubbish in overfilling it meaning it was not collected. She said: "That is not my rubbish in my bin. It's got dog tins and I do not even have a dog. Someone else has put their rubbish in my bin." She added: "I have got nobody to take it to the tip. I think it's darn right cheeky. I live on my own. I do not have that much rubbish. There's no way I can take it to the tip. I do not drive and I am here on my own."
Simon Pimlott said his bin was not collected after the lid blew open in the wind after it was a centimetre or two open. The first time ever he has not had his bin collected, he told the Manchester Evening News: "I think they are a bit out of order. We have got grandchildren and one of them is still in nappies. What are we supposed to do with dirty nappies? Would we have to wait here for a fortnight? They should be collected every week."
Some back the rule
Not everyone agrees the new enforcement is a bad thing though. One man told the MEN: "To me, if the lid is for something it should be closed."
Sarah Smith said: "I have always made sure our lid was shut. It would allow cats and foxes to get in and drag it out. In my view, I think think it's quite sensible otherwise it's blown all over the street attracting rats if they are not shut. Some people overfill to the point it's spilling out of the sides. Because of where we live, all our bins go down the alleyway. If they are overfilled, it's going to attract flies. I think it's the right move."
Councillors caught off guard
In an effort to avoid the issues seen in Manor, Cheadle East and Cheadle Hulme councillor David Meller tried to get ahead of the curve in his ward posting photos of him measuring his bin lid to make sure it was okay. Labour are calling for the current changes to be paused.
Coun Meller said: "There has got to be a bit of common sense as there was before. Really it should go back to how it was," adding: "There just needs to be a bit more pragmatism and openness about how this is being enforced because we have got no idea at the moment. It's all a bit of a farce from my perspective. I am not looking to score political points as it seems even some of the Liberal Democrat councillors were taken by surprise by this." Pointing to changes that have taken place with bin collections since 2025, he said: "There has been enough messing around with the bins. Just looking at it, for me I do not think it's a battle worth fighting."
Wendy Meikle, a top Liberal Democrat councillor, appeared to jokingly describe the new changes as a 'bin law' in a post but told the Manchester Evening News: "This has always been the rule that the lid has to be closed. One of the reasons is to stop rubbish flying out all over the place. The lids get damaged if they are not closed." She said 'none of us knew about it', adding: "I think with hindsight everything is done better but with this one if we had known as ward councillors, we could have made our residents aware and make sure that they are told on Facebook. Sometimes if people are not aware about something and then it changes overnight by surprise, it's not good PR."
The list of people who did not know also included the councillor in charge of overseeing the service. In an email, Coun Jake Austin said: "A sudden change in practice to enforce stricter use of this policy has left residents (and [councillors] alike) blindsided by a sudden perceived shift in how their bins are emptied. We are all aware of how difficult it can be to navigate any change to how bin collections are done."
He said the decision was taken at an operational level in line with stricter guidance, adding: "While officers were made aware of this change in approach, the significance of the decision and its likely impact on residents was unfortunately not escalated to senior council officers, councillors or the administration. As a result, we were not given the opportunity to make sure residents and councillors were aware of the changes in advance, understood what they would mean in practice, and were properly prepared. Many of us therefore became aware of the scale of the impact only once residents began experiencing issues with collections and contacting their local councillors. It is clear that communication and escalation processes did not work as they should have done in this instance. Whatever the rationale for the operational change, residents and councillors should have received advance notice and a clear explanation of what was changing and why. We are reviewing how decisions with significant resident impact are communicated to ensure this does not happen again."
People whose bins have been affected will have their bins collected between now and August 9 if the lid is fully closed. If people’s bin lid is missing but the waste is level with the top of the bin, the council has promised it will be collected.
