Council's £700,000 wheelie bins bill

Somerset Council is expected to spent up to £700,000 on buying new bins by the end of the financial year.

- Daniel Mumby Local democracy reporter

As part of its waste collection contract with Suez, the council bears the cost of providing new and replacement bins for kerbside collections - including black wheelie bins, recycling boxes and food waste caddies.

The council has set aside up to £950,000 within its capital programme for the 2025/26 financial year towards the purchase of new bins - of which it expects to spend a maximum of £700,000 in light of its ongoing financial pressures.

In a bid to keep costs down, the council will also be removing and reusing around 3,500 “unsanctioned additional bins” from Somerset properties - the majority of which will be 180-litre grey refuse bins.