Even with the extra funding it has been shown that most councils will not be able to guarantee a weekly collection of rubbish. Rossendale Borough Council have faced a great deal of criticism after they announced a plan that in order to save money residents would be required to take their rubbish to a collection point. There was such a strong opposition by the residents that the council immediately changed their mind and blamed the idea on the previous officials.

There were over fifty councils involved in the survey and only one of them admitted that they had considered stopping rubbish collection. However when they were asked whether they could guarantee that it would continue in the short term only around thirty said this was possible. They councils highlighted that they did not intend to change the collection at the moment but in future they may have to. Many councils have said they are in talks with consultants about how the might change the collection of rubbish.

The Campaign for Weekly Waste Collection was founded by Doretta Cocks and she has said, “The results of this survey are very worrying, the lack of reassurance to families is going to cause them concern. Many town halls all over the country are looking at ways to reduce costs and waste collection is going to be a major consideration. Councils have found that in the past they have got away with making cuts to the system, it is an easy target for them.”

The proposed removal of collection services in Rosendale was only for rural areas but it seems that it is an indicator of what could be coming and this might not be limited to the countryside. Some councils, that cover both rural and urban areas, have said that they are considering their options. They have hinted that for new housing developments there may be limited collections.

An example of a council doing this is Aylesbury Vale District Council and a spokesman commented, “It is unlikely that we will be removing rubbish collections before the next election but we simply cannot rule it out as a future possibility.” In other regions councils have encouraged people to share bins to make collection easier and more efficient, some have even said this is bringing neighbours together.