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Currently, Sunderland is the only local authority out of the 12 in the North East that collects bagged waste that is placed next to wheelie bins.

Sunderland City Council’s Cabinet will discuss whether to bring an end to the service when they meet on Thursday, June 9.

If approved, a wind-down of the side waste service would begin over the summer months and is expected to come into effect in 2023.

Sunderland City Council is set to consider ending side waste collections.

Research into the report that the Cabinet will consider states that collecting bags next to wheelie bins discourages recycling, is inefficient and more costly for the waste service and council tax payers, plus it has an impact on staff safety.

The report to the Cabinet outlines that three years ago, there were around 4,550 recorded instances of excess side waste.

In the 12 months to March this year, that number had almost doubled to 8,476.

Deputy Leader of Sunderland City Council and Cabinet Member for the Environment, Councillor Claire Rowntree, has stated that some residents are consistently placing side waste for collection.

Sunderland City Council is currently the only local authority in the North East to offer the service.

She said: "Current service arrangements within the Household Refuse Collection Service allows for residents to place black bags, known as side waste, next to the green wheelie-bin and these are collected as part of the fortnightly collection service.

"This side waste collection is having significant adverse impacts on our environment and the council’s ability to support lowering carbon emissions and increasing recycling rates.

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"We all have a responsibility for the waste we produce. And, regrettably, there are still some residents that do not manage their waste properly or responsibly and do place side waste, for collection, consistently and for some this can be excessive.

The amount of excessive side waste collections that has been recorded has nearly doubled to 8,476 in the 12 months leading up to March this year.

"The current side waste arrangements are a concern and, as the report to Cabinet outlines, it is not uncommon to see four or five bags out for a property and the service has at times experienced between ten and 20 bags for a property.

"We can all work together on creating a cleaner and greener city, and this includes managing our waste more efficiently."

You can view the Cabinet report into side waste collections by clicking here.

Could household side waste bag collections in Sunderland be ending?